Last Friday night, this thought was once again confirmed. The Chris Elliott Fund held its “2ndAnnual Patient, Caregiver & Partner Community Open House”. Our Brain Tumor Patient Support Services & Call Center is open to the public all year long but we desire to make sure that the patients, their families, our community and our funding partners know that at least once a year, we want them to walk through the doors so that we can say “Thank You”.
As I write this, I have a lump in my throat. As the Dad of a patient we have helped got ready to leave, he came forward with teary eyes, very humbled and said “I just have to give you a hug and say thank you for what you and the Chris Elliott Fund does for brain cancer patients. I had no idea how much you serve this population. I want to get involved”.
When my late husband, Chris Elliott, and I started the Chris Elliott Fund on May 18, 2000, our goal was to not only fund research but also to assist brain tumor patients and their caregivers/families with the sharing of our own story, our own experience, what we learned through our experience and what we would do differently as well as assisting them into getting into advanced treatment, treatment that is more than standard of care. I’m not going to lie, it has been a long, hard, 12 ½ years while trying to serve others the best that we can given our limited resources & funding. There have been days were I have considered throwing in the towel because simply getting and bringing in enough funding to meet the enormous need for our free services is one of the most difficult things I have had to do. BUT, WOW! When a patient, caregiver or family member comes to me with tears in their eyes and says “Thank You”, It makes it ALL WORTH IT!
I will not pretend to know what it is like to have a child, young or old, with brain cancer, but I do know what it is like to have a spouse with a terminal illness and pass away from brain cancer. I am grateful for people like the father who expressed his “Thank You” to the Chris Elliott Fund and I last Friday evening. These are beautiful gifts. Thank you for allowing me to work in this field each and every day.
This is also a great time to give a “Shout Out” to all of you who are interested in joining our 2015 Committees. Please contact me at Dellann@ChrisElliottFund.org if you are interested in joining us in the following ways:
- Join our Board of Directors
- Join our Board Vitality/Nominations Committee
- Join our 5thAnnual “Brains Matter” Awareness, Auction & Celebration Luncheon Committee. Event is 5/28 at the Bellevue Club
- Join our 14thAnnual “Chris Elliott Fund Education & Celebrity Golf Tournament” Committee to be held in June or July, Seattle/Eastside area
- Join our Development/Funding Committee
- Join our General Event Committee (Seattle area Events and National Events)
Thank you to each of you for your support and for “Being Part of the CURE!”
