Card designer defeats obstacles

Lauren Wepa, working on designs for CanTeen's 2015 greeting card range.

Cancer treatment may have left Lauren Wepa with a lifelong sight impairment, but the former Rotorua girl isn't letting that stand in the way of her design dreams.

CanTeen's 2015 greeting card range has been released and features designers from across New Zealand, all of whom are young people directly impacted by cancer - including Miss Wepa.

"We wanted to create a set of cards which would suit any occasion and which anyone would be excited to receive."

Miss Wepa was diagnosed with cancer two years ago, and as an after-effect of the treatment her vision has been impacted by light sensitivity, which means she must wear sunglasses permanently.

Lauren Wepa

She said this potential barrier to her design passion was a challenge CanTeen had helped her overcome.

"CanTeen has been a huge support in my journey, helping me to defeat new-found obstacles, understand my emotions and grow from this experience. "Being chosen as a designer for the 2015 greeting cards is a huge honour and I'm so happy to be able to help CanTeen fundraise to continue supporting Kiwis like me."

Every year CanTeen members create a set of greeting cards to fundraise for the organisation that supports young New Zealanders living with cancer.

The CanTeen greeting cards are available to purchase from www.canteen.org.nz/shop for $16, with all funds going towards the continued support of young people living with cancer.

CanTeen is the only New Zealand organisation dedicated to assisting cancer patients, their brothers and sisters during the teen and adolescent years.

With no government funding, CanTeen relies entirely on fundraising activities and donations to continue its service.