UCAAN Announces Unique Fun-Raising Event, Fun for All Ages

For Immediate Release - Charity Event

UCAAN Announces Unique Fun-Raising Event, Fun for All Ages

Five Local Dance Schools Are Set to Offer Free Dance Lessons to Community in Support of UCAAN

Thousand Oaks, CA February 14^h, 2013 - UCAAN is proud to announce the 1^st Annual Dance 4 Life event in support of programs for cancer survivors.  Participants would pay a small registration fee of $25 and commit to a minimum $100 that they would need to raise for the charity before the actual date of the event. Participants can choose to get involved as an individual, a couple or a team and have the option to set their own goals for what they’d like to raise for the cause. 

Dance 4 Life is an all ages event for people at all dance levels. It’s for individuals, private groups, business and corporate teams. The best perk of the event is the free dance lessons that participants can take. 6 dance schools in Ventura and Los Angeles County will be giving classes to the Dance 4 Life participants prior to the main event.

Classes start March 1^st, and continue till a week prior to the event. Participants are encouraged to sign up Now and choose the classes they’d like to take and start their own personal fundraising campaign for the cause. Participants can choose as many free dance lessons as they want from any or all of the 6 dance schools offering their expertise to our cause.

Dance school sponsors include: Connexions Dance in Ventura, Degas Dance in Encino, Agoura Hills Dance, Thrive Dance in Newbury Park & Carpino School of Dance in Thousand Oaks. Dance styles that will be offered include Jazz, Tap, Modern, Hip Hop, Salsa, Foxtrot, and East Coast Swing to name a few.

The main event, Saturday April 27^th, 2013, will be a celebration of the participants and recognition of the top fundraisers, plus there will be plenty of dancing & inspiration. Participants will be able to show off their moves from 1-5pm at St. Patrick’s Episcopal Church – One Church Road – Thousand Oaks, 91362.

Get Involved Today via email, phone, or schedule a date for Team UCAAN to come and speak to your school, business or team about this event

Free Dance Classes Start March 1^st, 2013                                                                                                                                          Main Celebration Event is April 27^th at St. Patrick’s Episcopal

Call UCAAN: 805-796-6090 or 805-479-1032

UCAAN is a 501c3 organization in Thousand Oaks; that was started by two-time terminal leukemia survivor Rachel Shur. From Shur’s own personal battle with cancer, she struggled to find the financial assistance and support that she needed. She found that resources were limited and that financial assistance to help the patient survivors after treatment was completed was even more difficult to find.

Shur started UCAAN in 2009 in hopes of providing cancer survivors with the levels of support that they needed. Since its inception, UCAAN has made many strides, helping provide resources & gifts of hope. UCAAN programs have attracted strong continuing interest and support from the surrounding community “It’s exciting to see the quality of support and the number of people who come in to our office out of concern for the needs of local cancer survivors.” Says Shur. “This gas assistance program is the first of what we hope to be many financial programs for cancer survivors.”  

The following programs are available to cancer survivors at UCAAN: “Young at Heart” peer lead support group that incorporates web chat to include survivors across the country, gifts of hope, group guided Imagery hypnotherapy, guidance, one-on-one counseling & support.

As funding comes in to UCAAN more assistance programs will be announced; including a specific dental assistance program that will fund fluoride trays for cancer survivors. Fluoride trays help prevent the side effects caused by chemotherapy and radiation treatments. Other needs that could be filled are grocery cards for organic food and funds for lymphedema garments.  

Interested in getting to know more about UCAAN? Visit: www.ucaan.org for more information or email Rachel@ucaan.org

Organization The First To Offer Unique Program

For Immediate Release

Organization The First To Offer Unique Program

Gas Assistance System (G.A.S.) helps cancer survivors with funding to get to their medical treatments 

Thousand Oaks, CA – February 14^th, 2013.  One of the most immediate needs of cancer survivors is gas assistance. Nearly 75% of the calls that United Cancer Advocacy Action Network (UCAAN) receives each month are cancer patients/survivors in need of financial assistance to get them to treatment or to pay bills.

While most organizations provide reimbursement after the patient has gone to the doctor, the founder of UCAAN, a survivor herself, saw a need that she felt should be met. “I’m a survivor and I know just how difficult it is to find help with the financial drain of cancer. Sometimes patients need money just to get to their treatments.  UCAAN wants to give patients the gas cards before they drive to the appointment, “Shur says.  

UCAAN is proud to announce the Gas Assistance System (G.A.S.), a program that allows cancer patients and survivors in the Tri-County area of Ventura, Santa Barbara & Los Angeles to receive a $25 gas card to get them to their treatments. One $25 gas card per patient per month is available (depending on availability) for patients undergoing cancer care. This is the first of many financial assistance programs that UCAAN hopes to offer.

Cancer Survivors interested in applying for the Gas Assistance System can download the application online at: www.ucaan.org/resources/gas_assistance/  

UCAAN is a 501c3 organization in Thousand Oaks; that was started by two-time terminal leukemia survivor Rachel Shur. From Shur’s own personal battle with cancer, she struggled to find the financial assistance and support that she needed. She found that resources were limited and that financial assistance to help the patient survivors after treatment was completed was even more difficult to find.

Shur started UCAAN in 2009 in hopes of providing cancer survivors with the levels of support that they needed. Since its inception, UCAAN has made many strides, helping provide resources & gifts of hope. UCAAN programs have attracted strong continuing interest and support from the surrounding community “It’s exciting to see the quality of support and the number of people who come in to our office out of concern for the needs of local cancer survivors.” Says Shur  “This gas assistance program is the first of what we hope to be many financial programs for cancer survivors.”  

The following programs are available to cancer survivors at UCAAN: “Young at Heart” peer lead support group that incorporates web chat to include survivors across the country, gifts of hope, group guided Imagery hypnotherapy, guidance, one-on-one counseling & support. 

As funding comes in to UCAAN more assistance programs will be announced; including a specific dental assistance program that will fund fluoride trays for cancer survivors. Fluoride trays help prevent the side effects caused by chemotherapy and radiation treatments. Other needs that could be filled are grocery cards for organic food and funds for lymphedema garments. 

Interested in getting to know more about UCAAN? Visit: www.ucaan.org for more information or email Rachel@ucaan.org  805-796-6090

 

Hope Through Outside of The Box Options

Giving Survivors Hope Through Outside of The Box Options

Every so often I receive an email from a survivor in need that is out of state and looking for assistance. In many cases, they are in need of assistance that isn’t available – like direct funding to pay for non-medical bills or expenses. When I receive calls like this, I try to keep in mind that even if we don’t offer this type of fundraising, there’s no reason why I can’t offer them some form of hope, an outside of the box option. I recall a few years ago, when I met a woman through a friend of mine who was a breast cancer survivor, the woman’s husband had a terminal form of brain cancer and she was struggling. The fact was that he was unable to work, they had two teen girls at home and the mom had to work full time and try to find the time to care for her daughters, unfortunately they had limited resources available to them. When I met her and her husband, it was long before UCAAN had grown to what it is now. I spoke to her about what she needed, her response was that she needed money to help pay for her eldest daughter to be able to go to college, she had just been accepted to University of San Francisco and needed money in a pinch to pay for her daughter’s campus housing. She hadn’t told many people about her husbands’ condition, and she was hesitant to reach out for help because she feared how they would respond.

As we talked, I told her that we’d have to approach this in an outside of the box sort of way, she agreed. What we did next was write a story about her husband, and what he was dealing with, a true story that was heartfelt and to the point of what help they needed. I helped her set up a paypal account and had her link it to the email, along with photos of the family, the next and final step was probably the hardest for her: sending the email to all of her contacts. I sent out the first set of emails for her and she sent out the next – she felt like a weight had been lifted off of her shoulders. I even had her email the request to me, so I could pass it on to others that I knew. 

The next day, I received a phone call from her, she was crying. She told me how she had received multiple donations from friends and family members, loving and supportive phone calls and had already reached the goal she needed to send her daughter to USF and more to help her pay many of her overdue bills. She was so thankful, and I was so glad that I was able to help her. 

This is only one of the stories of people that I have helped through UCAAN. But I felt that I needed to share one of our current survivors who contacted me in December and had found out about us on a Google search.  She’s a breast cancer survivor and works in the military; she’s in remission but now is facing the burden of medical bills. She doesn’t live in California, she’s out in Kentucky. Since we don’t offer the type of funding that she needs, I gave her the options I knew about. They were few and far between, but some of them had some possibility of helping her. So, I researched it and looking into what other options were available to her that weren’t in our resource database. I knew just what she had to do. So I called her with her option, I provided her with the information about a personal funding site called GoFundMe. I explained to her how the site worked, and how she could benefit from it. I told her to write her story and what she needed, how much she wanted to raise and to include a photo. I suggested that she build the page and send it to people she knows, so they can spread the word. 

So, I am doing my part, by sharing her page for people that may want to help - remember every bit counts - I have paid it forward!  Sometimes it's better to give than to receive, because I know that my small gift can make a lasting impact in the life of another. http://www.gofundme.com/1w87xw

A Little Help Goes a Long Way!

Part of why I started UCAAN, was because of how cancer had impacted my life. It literally took everything from me, everything that I was familiar with and changed it all, nothing was familiar anymore. I was unable to work, I lost friends, but saw who really was a true friend, and I was unable to resume what I considered to be a normal life. Soon after my last treatments (After my relapse and transplant) - 9/2008, I started to see the side effects of the treatments that saved my life.

It wasn't difficult enough to deal with the diagnosis, but then the side effects that I didn't know about. The herniated discs and degenerative disc disease, the brain damage (mainly memory & cognitive), the infertility, the lymphedema, neuropathy and then the dental deterioration.

Not being able to work, made it difficult to navigate through these problems as I soon found out that my insurance no longer covered what I needed to repair these issues. I had been struck my lightning and I didn't have a way to get better from it, and I was unable to find the much needed help to surpass and properly deal with the side effects. What I realized, was that there were little to no resources available to me, no real funding to help get through my new set of challenges - I was stuck.

Now, 4 years later, I am still facing those side effects, but now I have a clear picture of what I needed to do. I have started an organization, to help people like me who have gone through cancer and now are looking for help, for the patients who can't find the resources that they need now. I have done so much, much more than I could have ever imagined. This organization - UCAAN will become greater than myself, but I cannot do it alone, I need the support of my community to make it grow!

We've just started a NEW Program: Our Gas Assistance system, which will allow us to provide cancer survivors in need with one prepaid $25 gas card to get them to treatments. For more information or how to apply: http://ucaan.org/resources/tri-county_gas_assistance/

The fact is that UCAAN has a long way to go before we can start offering even more new funding  programs for these amazing survivors, but we need to be able to fund the basics first and we need your support to do this. Our Goal is to obtain 125 recurring donors, and we've set up a simple way for you to sign up as a recurring donor.

Choose your amount: Quartz Sponsor $10.50/mo, Hematite Sponsor $18.60/mo or Amethyst Sponsor $25.75/mo. http://ucaan.org/support-ucaan/recurringdonations/

Or give a one time gift via paypal through our main website www.ucaan.org or by Check to UCAAN     1459 East Thousand Oaks Blvd, Bldg E - Thousand Oaks, CA 91362

All donations are 100% tax deductible!

Meetings of Hope That Are Meant to Be.........

On Monday 3/5/12, I went to City of Hope for some tests that were scheduled by my gynecologist to find out about some bleeding problems I was having, while on coumadin. The day, which was planned to be a few hours, ended up being an adventure of a day - ranking in at about 10 hours including travel time to and from the City of Hope.

While I was at the COH with Grandma Sharon, a great and equally amazing friend, we met several people while waiting for tests and doctors. While sitting in the waiting room of the Brawerman Clinic 2A, there was a woman who sat adjacent to us and every time a couple came into the waiting room looking for a spot, we would invite her to sit next to us so the couple could sit together. Before her appointment, we became friendly.... her name was Reesa, a breast cancer survivor who was still going through treatments, but had recently lost her best girl friend to colon cancer. As we continued to talk I told her that March was kidney and colorectal cancer awareness month and as I looked on my purse strap (the place I put all my Share the Hope bracelets)I saw the perfect one - it was like fate. I had just completed a STH bracelet with pink and blue beads with a survivor ring. I took it off my bag and looked at Reesa and said "I want to give you a present. This is a Share the Hope bracelet. The pink symbolizes your strength in fighting breast cancer and the blue is for colorectal cancer, in memory of your best friend. Wear this as long as you need the hope and when you don't need the hope and meet someone who needs it more, you pass on the bracelet and share the story with us." I put it on her wrist, she started to cry....... It was a simple gift that had an ever lasting impact for her.

But that wasn't the only encounter that I had at COH that day. As I was walking to the vending machine to grab a snack while I was waiting for my gyno appointment, a woman stopped me and said "Forgive me, I'm not starting at your breasts, but I wanted to ask what your shirt said." I smiled at her and responded "It's UCAAN, the organization that I started after my own personal battle with cancer twice." The young woman smiled and asked for a card. I told her I had one in my purse, so we walked back into the waiting room area and I sat next to the two women. As we all spoke, they told me that they both were survivors of Multiple Myeloma, and one of them was currently battling. When I asked them what their favorite colors were, they both responded "Red!" I quickly went to my trusty bag and found two gorgeous red bracelets, I went back to my new found friends both named Karen and I told them the story about the Share the Hope bracelets and put one on each of them. They smiled, hugged and thanked me. I handed them my card and soon after they were called back into their appointment. :)

Once again, that wasn't the last group of survivors I met and gave gifts of hope to, there was one more. As Grandma Sharon and I patiently waited for my name to be called, a woman walked into our waiting room pushing an elderly woman. She looked frail but sweet. They sat right next to us and I couldn't help but talk to the woman in the wheelchair - something drew me to talk to her. I asked her how her day was and she responded with little enthusiasm "It's ok..." Then I asked her what she was at COH for, she responded the usual answer "for my cancer, it's killing me.." I could see the loss of hope in her eyes, that's probably the saddest thing to see in another person... at least for me. I looked at the woman who seemed to be her caregiver, possibly her daughter, and she looked so sad. I reached for the elderly woman's hand and asked her what she had - she had a very rare form of gynecological cancer and felt that she was on her way out. I looked at her and told her my story, about my battle with cancer, when I was given little chance to survive. I asked her what her favorite color was and told her that I had a gift for her. She responded in a sweet voice "Blue". I pulled a bracelet once again off of my purse and placed it around her wrist. I told her about the meaning of the bracelet and what she was meant to do with it, her eyes lightened up and she smiled. She was so appreciative and excited. I then turned to her daughter, yes she was (her mom confirmed that!) and gave her a bracelet as well. Then, they were called back by one of the nurses...... She left the waiting room, a much stronger woman than when she came in and it was apparent.

So...... Normally when I give away bracelets and the UCAAN business cards, I rarely ever hear back from one of the survivors. But every once in awhile I do and when I do the stories that they share tend to bring tears to my eyes. But last night, as I was out with friends at my favorite Dueling Piano show, I received a touching email that brought tears to my eyes right at the table. It was from Karen and was titled "Thank you for the bracelet" and it read:

"I just wanted to tell you what a joy it was to meet you at City of Hope on Monday when I was there with my friend Karen for her treatment with multiple myeloma. We were both so blessed with the bracelets and I have told many people about the gift you gave us. Thank you. I looked at your website and was thrilled to see a photo of you with my good friend and fellow myeloma warrior Valerie Stevenson. I knew going to City of Hope would be difficult for me as she was the last person I came to see before she passed away last July but I felt her presence everywhere. Her photo was in the infusion room and the nurses spoke of her so fondly and then to meet you and know she was also a friend of your was just awesome. So my little Val was with me that day and I miss her a lot but she touched my heart in a special way as did you. Keep up the wonderful work you are doing. Hugs and Blessings." - Karen R., Multiple Myeloma Survivor
(I attached a photo of myself and Val from about a year ago.)

When I read the letter, before opening the picture I prayed to God "Please don't let it be my friend Valerie, please don't let it be her...." I opened the photo to see my friend Valerie before me with my new friend Karen. I started to cry, and recalled the last time that we had spoken, in April of last year at the bone marrow transplant reunion celebration with my friend Sarah as well. I remember seeing Valerie then and hearing her tell me that the cancer had returned and she was back to treatments again, but she had strength, support and hope. I really thought when I saw her that she would make it, and was so devastated last night to find out that she didn't and she passed on last July without me having any idea. :(

Valerie is featured on our Website, with her survivor story and on our brochure, she is also in this picture below.



From the City of Hope website, Valerie is mentioned: "Valerie Stevenson, a research scientist who diagnosed her own cancer and later volunteered to take part in an innovative clinical trial. “I asked Dr. Jeffrey Wong, City of Hope’s head of radiation oncology, whose idea it was to test Helical TomoTherapy on multiple myeloma. He convinced the manufacturer the test should be done, and he did the work to make it happen at City of Hope. When he told me that, I teared up. Dr. Wong is my hero".”

*Valerie and I in 2008, getting chemo together*

In Loving Memory Of
VALERIE MARIE STEVENSON Feb. 17, 1954 - July 12, 2011 Valerie lost her courageous 6 year battle with Multiple Myeloma, (Bone Marrow Cancer) on Tuesday July 12, 2011. She died peacefully in her sleep at home after a weekend filled with love and laughter from visiting family and friends. Born in San Bernardino, she is the only child of Joe and Rita Toland of Fontana and lived her whole life in the Inland Empire, the last 19 years in Yucaipa. Valerie attended Fontana High School and held a Bachelor of Science degree with a major in biology from U.C.R. She had a long career as a Clinical Laboratory Scientist and retired from the Loma Linda V.A. Hospital in 2006. She is survived by her husband of 31 years, Michael Stevenson. Valerie was a very sociable person who loved animals, (especially her dogs), traveling, making jewelry and meeting new people. Loved by everyone who knew her Valerie became instant friends with anyone she met. She was an advocate for the International Myeloma Foundation, (IMF) and helped many fellow patients who were struggling with this disease. Instead of flowers, Valerie requested that donations be made in her memory to the I.M.F. Online - donate.myeloma.org, or by Phone - 1.800.452.2873. There will be a Monday evening vigil at 7:00 pm July 25, 2011 at St. Frances X. Cabrini Catholic Church, 12687 California St. Yucaipa. A memorial mass will be held at 10:00 am on Tuesday July 26, 2011. A reception will follow at the church.

**************************
As much as I am not ready to let go of my dear friend Valerie, I can always remember the amazing ways that she helped others, her love for making jewelry (just like me) and her passion to help people no matter how sick she was. Valerie, you will be missed and I know you are up there in heaven looking down on all of us and having a ball with our other fallen angels!

Even if you're no longer here on earth, you're still a Survivor to me!
We've got a special picture of you here at our office.

Love you!