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Kay McGuire and Grace Cooper sit scoring pieces of scrapbook paper and sticking stacks of color-coordinating Post-It Notes to the inside, attaching a small pen to the side.

At Picnic Hill Create, a scrapbooking and craft store in southeast Lincoln, they're putting together one piece of the final project: care packages for recently diagnosed breast cancer patients in Lincoln.

After opening Picnic Hill Create in 2022, owner Sara Steele was left with the remnants of the now-closed scrapbooking store Ben Franklin's supply of paper. Steele and the previous owner had formed a connection.

"She asked me if I wanted to sell it in my store. There was a lot of it," Steele said. "And so, I said I would sell it. There was so much there and I felt like there was a bigger purpose."

Steele wasn't quite sure what that purpose was until she made a connection with a woman selling scrapbook paper at a trade show who shared her story of surviving breast cancer and receiving a care package after her diagnosis.

"The light bulb went on, and I went 'Okay, we're going to make care packages with this paper," Steele said.

Kathy Ford was one of more than a dozen volunteers at the craft store Wednesday night. Ford received her first breast cancer diagnosis in 2014 and went through a lumpectomy and radiation that year. Seven years later, the cancer returned and she underwent chemotherapy and surgery.

"I was really happy to find out there was something I could do," said Ford, who received a similar care package after her first diagnosis.

"You go through your own period of feeling so needy with everything and then you recover, and then you want to do something," Ford said. "I love scrapbooking and paper crafts and when I saw (Sara) was doing this, I was like 'Oh, sign me up right away.'"

The store is set up as it would be during its normal business hours: shelves of scrapbooking paper, stickers and craft tools greet guests who walk through the door. Beyond the few rows of shelves, are fold-out tables organized for different craft events.

This is Steele's first time organizing something like this. She said normally the space is taken up by scrapbooking classes or reservations for friends to craft together.

This event, though, is bringing together people who might not have crossed paths for one purpose: giving breast cancer patients a feeling of community and support.

"I think any kind of support we can give to people so that they know they aren't alone is important. I know that's becoming kind of cliché to say that, but it's true," Ford said. "It's very true."

Diane Carlson has taught classes at Picnic Hill Create and designed the folios for the care packages. To her, the support from people who were both long-time scrapbookers and first-time crafters meant so much.

"I won't get to see the ladies receive the packages," Carlson said. "But I've heard other women say they have been the recipient of packages and that it makes them feel so good to know that someone they don't even know is willing to do something for them."

Geneice Coudriet received a care package after her diagnosis last September. Feeling lost in everything around her, a care package helped her feel like there was more support than she had thought. This is her first time at Picnic Hill Create.

"You're swimming in all this new information," Coudriet said. "And I had a note from a cancer survivor and it was really sweet and special that they provided that so you feel like there's somebody else out there already on your side."