Kasi Zieminski, Stelter Client Strategist for our healthcare and medical research clients, helps us celebrate National Cancer Survivors Day® with highlights, updates and stories from some of the nonprofits helping to make beating cancer possible.
Did you know that June 2 was National Cancer Survivors Day®? The first Sunday in June is known as a “celebration for those who have survived, an inspiration for those recently diagnosed, a gathering of support for families, and an outreach to the community.”
At Stelter, it’s also an opportunity to recognize our cancer center clients doing amazing work across the United States. Here are a few inspirational highlights.
Taking Pride in Cancer Care
A recent National Cancer Institute article on “LGBTQ+ Voices” quoted doctors and researchers from several of our nonprofit healthcare partners. These experts are studying health disparities and cancer care with sexual and gender minority (SGM) people—and preparing early-career researchers “to improve care for SGM people along the cancer continuum.” I love seeing our clients as part of this important work.
→ICYMI: In the spirit of Pride Month, remember these Must-Know Estate Planning Tips to Share With Your LGBTQ+ Supporters.
Expressing the Journey
Cancer centers offer a variety of survivorship resources and supportive services, and perhaps the most creative one I’ve heard of is Visible Ink at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. This unique program “offers MSK patients the opportunity to express themselves in writing with the one-on-one support of an experienced mentor—empowering people with cancer to give voice to their stories.” Writers can see their works performed and published each year—as can the broader community. I am adding the Visible Ink archives and anthologies to my “to watch” and “to read” lists now!
Telling Stories of Survival
There are so many inspiring stories from cancer survivors, of course, and some of the most powerful I’ve seen recently are from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. For one, their iconic bell gets top billing in the header image of their new planned giving website. It’s truly an instance where a picture is worth a thousand words, encapsulating everything a person has gone through to reach that meaningful moment marking the end of their treatment and the beginning of their survivorship journey. I can almost hear the ringing in that single, significant photo. (If you’re not familiar with the meaning of ringing the bell, read about when and why it started, and how ringing it impacts cancer survivors in different ways.)
And lately I can’t get Melissa Gilhart’s words out of my mind, either. I read Melissa’s story in the spring/summer issue of MD Anderson’s planned giving newsletter, Your Legacy. She is a “clinical nurse, cancer survivor, world traveler, lifelong learner, aspiring park ranger,” and a planned giving donor. “I would take breaks to receive radiation therapy in between patient care,” she recalled. “It gave me tremendous empathy for my patients. I counted it as a blessing to experience the same thing they were experiencing.” Melissa’s witness is a blessing to me.
Growing Long-Term Support
It’s also so rewarding to hear from our clients directly—like Carter Stone, senior development director at Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Foundation. Carter was kind enough to record a video clip shared during a Stelter staff meeting this spring. She talked about the advanced cancer care they provide across Louisiana and the Gulf South, their longstanding partnership with Stelter for planned giving marketing, and the forward-thinking generosity of their donor community.
For nearly a decade, we’ve been working with the Foundation on a strategic plan called the Legacy Challenge, a bold vision to grow the endowment to $50 million by 2025 to secure the future of cancer care. “Your research worked. Your copywriting worked. Your design worked…literally pushing the envelope,” Carter shared about our recent campaigns. So far, they have more than doubled their endowment throughout the Legacy Challenge. And, as Carter said as we closed the meeting, we look forward to reaching—and celebrating—that $50 million goal together next year!
Amplifying the Mission
If you’re reading this, I imagine you’ve been touched by cancer in one way or another—whether a personal diagnosis, a loved one’s experience, or throughout your community. I certainly have.
If you are part of this work: Thank you!
If you are a cancer survivor: We celebrate you!
Here at Stelter, we continue to be grateful to play a small part supporting the big missions of our healthcare and medical research clients, on National Cancer Survivors Day® and all year round.
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