The good Cornellians can do: Pam (Mandell) Freedman ’87
"In my senior year at Cornell I thought I deserved to pad my academic schedule with a couple of ‘guts,’” says Pam (Mandell) Freedman ’87. “That’s how I found myself in a large classroom/studio on the Ag Quad with a few other women and what felt like the entire Cornell football team. Welcome to Floral Design 101!”
Pam still recalls the affable Professor Charles Clayton Fischer and the class as a joyful addition to her senior year. At the time, she loved bringing home bouquets of fresh flowers to her housemates.
Little did Pam know how often she would think back to the tips she learned in that class—as she arranged flowers for her home and for family events over the years. After retiring from a career as a TV writer and producer, Pam heard about a volunteer opportunity arranging bouquets of flowers for patients at University of Virginia Medical Center.
Pam’s youngest son was born at the hospital, and her dad (Jerry Mandell ’58, MD ’62), her brother (Jim Mandell ’84, MD/PhD ’92), her brother’s wife (Elizabeth Mandell MD ’88) have all worked as doctors there. “It felt like home to me,” she says.
She jumped at the chance to arrange flowers donated by Charlottesville’s abundant floral farms into small bouquets to distribute to patients.
“I have nothing to take home or show off, but I do have memories of the smiles of deep gratitude when the flowers are distributed to both individual patient rooms and reception areas and visitor lounges throughout the hospital,” Pam says. “I could not have imagined nearly 40 years ago when I was simply filling a hole in my schedule, that I would someday be filling hearts in need.”
Cornellians around the globe are sharing how they do good in communities big and small. Share your own story.
