news Issue #5 • Summer 2014 Beautiful Boy As Told by Mom Ebone t started off with pain in his leg and we thought it was growing we had to go in every week and then it went to every two pains, until he woke up screaming and we rushed him to the weeks and then once a month. He went into remission on my Ihospital. They said the word “leukemia.” At that time I didn’t birthday, December 20th and they said it was incredibly fast. know what it was. As the doctors went on, they said, “It’s a form Everything was pretty easy the first year. of cancer and it has an 80 percent cure rate and Jeziah is going The next year, Jeziah relapsed. Next, there were somewhere to be fine.” It was November 16th, 2011. in the range of 10-12 chemotherapies that were tried on him. There were a lot of inpatient stays and time away from my other two children, with my husband watching the other boys while I stayed at the hospital. I would go to work from the hospital and come right back. Often there would be weeks before I would see my other two boys. Sometimes they would come to the hospital with me and the nurses would bring in a bunch of the reclining chairs so they could sleep near their brother. Every day, when I would get off of work, I would rush to the hospital and climb up into bed next to Jeziah. We would just talk everything out. We called it our “snuggle time.” We would play card games, board games, video games, listen to music and dance around the room. Jeziah did very well with tolerating the chemotherapy and Jeziah began to get worse. A day before we were supposed various medications and with his smile, he’d say, “Mom, I’m to go into his bone marrow transplant they said he had gonna be okay, don’t worry, don’t cry.” He was very protective “relapsed.” I had to take off so much time from work and it over my heart and over his family as a whole. That particular was hard to keep up on regular bills, electricity, car notes and treatment was supposed to run a year. For the first few months things like that. We started to struggle financially. (continued on page 5) There With Care News • Summer 2014 • therewithcare.org 1 from our executive director BOARD OF DIRECTORS Board Chairperson Peggy Larson Fuller Board Director Michael Barnathan Board Director Pam Bernal Board Director Chris Columbus Board Director Dave Davia Board Director Paula DuPre’ Pesmen Board Director Geoffrey Hansen Board Director Michael Lewis Board Director Kirsten Heckendorf Board Director Michael Lewis Board Director Jody Mathie, MD Board Director Diane Nelson Board Director Mimi Roberson Board Director Jacqueline van Someren Paula DuPre’ Pesmen with The Barbers, Board Secretary Amy Carpenter one of our first families served ADVISORY BOARD t the core of everything we do at There With Care are the Jane Butcher, Michael Clateman, Esq., Daphne Haas-Kogan, MD, Jeffrey Hansen, MD, beautiful families that we serve. For every decision that Anne Hanson, Rose Healion, Wendy Kahn, Tommi McHugh, is made in our programs, operations and events, we ask Marti Sullivan, Patricia Wilson, Julie Zimbelman, MD A ourselves “What is best for the families?” STAFF Executive Director Paula DuPre’ Pesmen The families we serve are faced with the journey of caring for their VP of Development Dana Bacardi child while facing many unknowns. These aren’t choices that any VP of Operations Amy Carpenter parent would choose, they are choices they face because they have Development Director Jennifer Purdum to. The families are brave, they are loving, they are gracious. Business Development Associate Kathryn Messman Program Coordinators Adrienne Ambraziunas, Being able to be there for them, easing their stresses by taking the Mary Beth Appel, Sandy Guidicelli, Kim Richter very basic things from their full plates, is what we do at There With Director of Volunteers Jodee Spalding Events Director Shanna Lawless Care. Our goal is to remove those daily burdens so they can be Hospital Care Coordinator Cate Buck where they are most needed, caring for their children. Operations Manager Robin Spitz Grants Director Kristina Olsen This happens with the help of so many people who truly care about Programs Associate Tim Ramenofsky the families. And the families feel that care. It’s care in the meals Community Development Associate Lora Covington that are delivered, the transportation that helps them get to the Community Space Coordinator Kim Schultz Communications Coordinator Lori Winsor hospital, the car seats and baby bags that help them take a critical Meal Program Coordinator Cheryl Markel baby home from the hospital. VOLUNTEER STAFF Our community that participates in supporting our mission is Steering Committee Laura Lee, Pam Bernal, Cindy Davis Website and Social Media Director Brenda Evans caring. It’s a community of volunteers, donors, business partners, Care Ambassadors Cindy Davis, Kiana Akina, staff, other non-profit organizations who partner with us, granting Jay Mills, Rich Bogen organizations, and so many more. Volunteer Training Director/Spanish Translator Lori Kashman Administrative Volunteers Lyne Cahn, Beth Botansky, With every task we perform, whether sorting donations or preparing Kay Beaton, Pat Smith and delivering food, our goal is to ensure that the families feel the IT Support Sal DeVincenzo care that is intended for them and that we are meeting their most Baby Care Program Christina Cook, Melanie Patterson Warehouse Managers Monica Butler, Marsha Ambraziunas critical needs. Patient Gift Program Marsha Ambraziunas We couldn’t be there for them without our community of care and Community Outreach Coordinator Daphyne Reiff Group Leads Kim Schulz, Julie Rich that includes you. Thank you for all that you do to help our work Corporate Group Lead Bryan Smith and for being a part of the support for the families facing critical Youth Group Lead Sarah Hoagland illness. You make a meaningful difference for them and we are Holiday Program Julie DeGroff, Shelby King Team Bake Corky Wilcox, Karen Leuschel, Barb Senger grateful for your trust. Hospital Art Bag Program Molly Rossi Meal Program Weekly Volunteer Riki Jones Warmly, Pantry Partner Lead Jennifer Stanley Events Committee Mary Spicer, Michelle Gallop, Cheryl Markel, Mary Lee, Kristin Kalush, Sarah Vincent, Kirsten Heckendorf, Kari Johnson, Faire Stanley, Tammy Bishop, Daphyne Reiff, Carol Steinbrecher, Shelby King, Nancy Bernstein, Kim Schulz, Paula DuPre’ Pesmen Katie Sexton, Janet Foley Executive Director Interns Casey Coviello, Jesse Coviello, Jennifer Clark, Abby Friedman, Christie Wirth, Liza Sawyer, Katherine Bernal 2 There With Care News • Summer 2014 • therewithcare.org Our Next Generation of Care It starts with the heart. Each week, I am inspired by children who wish to volunteer, fund- raise and even organize events to support the special families and children that we serve. I recently heard from a local camp director wanting to partner with There With Care to teach summer campers from across the country about the importance of caring for people in their community. We scheduled a time for the kids to come and get a tour of our warehouse and office to see what we do and how we help. The campers listened, asked great questions, brainstormed ideas of how to enhance support, and shared how it feels to give back. Then, they rolled up their sleeves with a smile and got to work. Awesome! Volunteering with our Team Chop cooking nutritious meals, holding a neighborhood lemonade stand to raise funds for the gas Dana Bacardi and Kids from Camp Inc. giving care cards for families, organizing a book drive at school, donating toys at a birthday party, choosing There with Care for a Bar Mitzvah the strength, the vision, and the compassion to continue to help project, collecting baby items, the list grows.... make our communities better places to live. Often with a full heart, I have the honor of listening to these kids Thank you wonderful There With Care family — for being good role and young adults talk about how it feels to give back as they look models and showing what it means to care. The kids are listening. inside their hearts and find their growing passion for helping others. With gratitude, We are lucky beyond words to do this work beside these incredible kids who are called to action by the people around them: parents, teachers, counselors, and friends, who themselves take the time to make an impact to those in the community who need help. It gives me great hope that this next generation, these “Millennials”, have Dana Bacardi, VP of Development New Denver Space Opens! or nearly 10 years now, There With Care has grown in Colorado, serving more than 1,500 families treated at 14 hospital and hospice agencies. FThe work we do has brought together people and businesses from across the state to support families during a fragile time in their lives. As our com- munity grows, so do we. In addition to our two Denver pantries (Presbyterian St. Lukes Hospital & Brent’s Place), this summer, There With Care is opening a new Community Space in Denver (west of I-25 on Colorado Blvd.) This space will help provide a welcome home for supporters to drop off donations, volunteers to sort donations, a meeting space for our teams to hold volunteer Denver Community Outreach Coordinator Daphyne trainings and plan events, a home to invite business and school groups to Reiff and Development Director Jennifer Purdum perform service projects, and so much more. With heartfelt gratitude, we thank the following people and businesses for all of their time, skills and resources to make this dream come true: Gary Lewis, Kirsten Heckendorf, Jody Mathie, MD, Daphyne Reiff, Lance Savage, Sal DeVincenzo, Robert Thornton, Zach Heckendorf, Rick Reiff, Jeff Schulz, Kim Schulz, Kiana Akina, Jonathan Schneider, Jennifer Purdum, Pam Bernal, Dave Davia, Savage Builders, Inc., Monika Stenger & Servitech, Inc., Ron Davits & KCA Companies, Brothers Glass Company, Inc., Trident Telephone, Denver Home Depot, B & H Interiors.