Building Our Foundation

For I was sick and you visited me. - Matthew 25:36

“You have cancer.” Will I die? What will happen to my family? My job?

In one devastating moment, the rug is jerked out from under you as you hear a string of confusing medical terms and wonder how you will find the strength to cope physically, emotionally and spiritually. Modern advances in medical technology enable an action plan for treatment, but where’s the action plan for emotions? Who can you talk to? Who can answer the questions doctors can’t? Who can bond with you in faith and hope when it’s more than you can take?

CanCare can. A trained CanCare volunteer’s simple words, “I know how you feel,” can make all the difference. “I was where you were and I got through it” can turn isolation into friendship and hope. “I fought this disease, and now I’m going to fight it with you” can renew faith and a sense of purpose for life with and beyond cancer.
 
CanCare’s mission is to improve the quality of life for cancer patients and their families by providing what no other organization does: one-on-one, long-term emotional and spiritual support from trained volunteers who have experienced and survived the same cancer diagnosis or who have been caregivers to someone who has.

Founded in 1990 through the generosity of an anonymous donor at Houston’s Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church, CanCare has become a critically important companion in the cancer journey, providing unique services through a strong interfaith network of more than 100 congregations, hospitals and companies. Through one person’s vision that no one should go through the cancer experience alone, more than 100,000 individuals have received the gifts of faith, hope, and encouragement. One person’s interfaith community of more than 500 trained volunteers who turn their experiences into purposeful love and belief for others.

But what about 10, 20, 30 years from now?

How will CanCare continue to provide spiritual and emotional support for our children and our friends’ children as cancer diagnoses increase?

In 2007, CanCare’s Board of Directors established a new vision to ensure the organization’s long-term survival and growth: A Legacy of Hope, founded in honor of Michael E. Hanson. CanCare’s A Legacy of Hope is funded through gifts that are separate from traditional funding. As the principal grows, CanCare will use the distributions to expand its reach and create new initiatives for years to come.

By participating in CanCare’s A Legacy of Hope, you will help build a financial anchor so your children and their children can continue to face cancer with hope, dignity and strength. You will make it possible for hundreds of future volunteers to turn their experiences into a lifeline of hope and joyful possibilities for cancer patients and their loved ones. And your gift will generate annual gifts from you – in perpetuity.

In 1990, one person’s vision created life-changing experiences for those who are with us today and those who came before us. Now, you have an opportunity to be part of CanCare’s vision for the future by making a difference to those who will come after us.

What kind of Legacy do you want to leave? Become part of CanCare’s future – today.

The true meaning of life is to plant trees under whose shade you do not expect to sit.  - Nelson Henderson