Cancer Survivor Adds Candles to Non-Profit's Product Line

Julia Butera has been spreading hope to others recently.

Butera, a Wayne resident, has developed her own line of jams and candles she sells online. She donates all profits, minus expenses, to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, the world’s largest voluntary health agency dedicated to helping people with blood cancer. Butera was diagnosed with Stage 3 Hodgkin’s Lymphoma in 2010, but received chemotherapy and has been in remission since September.

“I’m just so passionate about helping others,” Butera said. “People need to know that there’s always hope.”

Butera formed her own company, hope. health. joy­., last year and . She recently added two varieties of candles to the product line: whiteberry and vanilla and butter cream. They come in two sizes and cost between $6 and $12.

“Candles make great gifts and seem to be really popular now,” Butera said. “I wanted to offer a different kind of product for people and candles just seemed like a good choice.”

Butera has also added a few varieties of jams and preserves: peach and peach cobbler, among others.

The candles are made with soy wax rather than paraffin wax, which is oil based.

“Because we sell all-natural jams, using the soy wax just made sense,” Butera said. “It’s in keeping with the theme of being environmentally friendly and helping others.”

Butera regularly volunteers her time at , where her son Adam is a student. Her company also sponsors her son’s floor hockey team at the .

As a cancer survivor, Butera wants people to never take their good health for granted. She wants people to be joyful.

“You need to give people hope, especially people who are battling cancer,” Butera said. “Being joyful, it’s so much more than happiness. Joy can bring so much happiness into someone’s life.”