Regional Cancer Care Associates’ Post

TODAY is the day! Contributions today can help trigger matching pledges and other contributions! Please see below.

On the Livestream the other night, I displayed a guitar in the shape of the cancer ribbon that I call the Hopecaster. It was built in memory of Jorgen Zoller an Australia Luthier. Every year there is the Jurgs Cup, a guitar building competition. While I did not enter this guitar, I did donate it to the Zoller family so that they could sell it, raffle it, donate it to the Leukaemia Foundation or even put it in a box and shove under the bed. Additionally, I also offered to make the model available as a free download so that other printers and makers can make their own Hopecaster to help raise awareness about other forms of cancer. Why? because Fxck Cancer. That's why. You're welcome to grab these files yourself which are available at https://lnkd.in/gYBuJEaN How does a guitar raise awareness? Simple. Anytime someone asks a question about this guitar, you've just made one more person more aware. While that doesn't sound like much, to the body walking along the beach throwing the starfish back in... It meant the world to that one little creature. Built on a Bambu Lab X1C using FormFutura filament. With additional models planned to be printed in one single piece on a BigRep - Large-Format 3D Printers ONE.4 #3dprinting #3dprinted #guitar #fxckcancer #cancer #iamjurgs Freedspace - 3D Technologies Thinglab3D Download your copy here...

🌍❤️ Today is International Blood Donor Day! 🩸 Today, celebrates the heroes who selflessly donate blood to save lives. Giving blood makes it possible for many people to lead normal healthy lives. Every year thousands of patients require blood transfusions in our hospitals, because they are undergoing surgery, recovering from cancer or have been in a serious accident.  Did you know? 🩸Only 3% of the eligible Irish population give blood, providing blood for a population of over 4 million. 3,000 blood donors are needed each week in Ireland. 🩸One in four people will need a blood transfusion at some point in their lives 🩸Over 1,000 Irish people receive transfusions every week in Ireland 🩸Approximately 70,000 patients will have transfusions in Irish hospitals this year. 🩸A typical unit of blood lasts for just 35 days, but in some cases such as blood used for very young children; this blood must be used within 5 days of it's collection. Today make the decision to book your blood donation to save lives.

Rock against Cancer Rock against Cancer is an initiative to raise money for Cancer Research. Worldwide, one in five men and one in six women will develop cancer at some point in their lives. One in eight men and one in 11 women who develop the disease will also die from it. Fortunately, better treatment methods are emerging, increasing the chances of survival. With Rock against Cancer, we want to help doctors and researchers get closer to the solution. How are we going to do this? The rock and metal community is a close-knit community of music lovers. Over the years, many of our music icons have died from this terrible disease. We would like to build a global community that any music lover can join. In this community we will have numerous activities take place under the banner Rock against Cancer, such as “Meet & Greets” at concerts, selling/auctioning autographed collectors items, benefit concert/festival, merchandise. Or simply donations. Of course, much more is possible. How can you participate? If you have a great idea, please register with us at united@rockagainstcancer.eu. Via our special action platform we can then support you. Also magazines, record companies, artists, festivals, stores can participate, every help is welcome. Will you help us too? www.rockagainstcancer.eu

Two years ago, I was tasked with reviewing and updating Bowel Cancer UK’s tribute fund offering. Stage 1: I began by carrying out an intense data gathering excercise; looking at years of in-memory donating behaviours, donor profiles, tribute fund vs non-tribute fund lifetime values, retention rates, tribute-fund activity types, etc. It was a mammoth task that took all summer. By the time I’d finished gathering, analysising and summarising the data, I felt I’d earnt a masters degree in Raiser’s Edge and Excel! (Speaking of degrees, thanks god I did 3 years of Statistics at university…that served me WELL here…) Stage 2: To understand the data and analysis in the broader context of in-memory giving across the sector, we enlisted the the help of Legacy Voice. Using my data work, their knowledge, and qualitative interviews of our in-memory supporters, they produced an incredible report. It told us how we were doing compared to other charities, who our in-memory tribute fund audience was and what resonated with them. Stage 3: We now had all the information we needed to begin designing our new tribute fund product. Enter Lark (see below). Lark had just finished helping the Public Fundraising team to create their own tone of voice as well as design our bespoke, mass participation events. We loved their work already, they understood our brand and we were curious to see how they’d approach a project that had to be so sensitive. They were amazing. As you can see from their post, our new Star of Hope Tribute Pages* convey a sense of peace and hope, in equal measure - just what I wanted. Our supporters have given us beautiful feedback and we can’t wait for this product to grow, giving those who’ve lost a loved one to bowel cancer an everlasting place to celebrate their life. Stage 4: I want to thank MuchLoved for hosting our tribute fund product and Sally Swann for helping us implement all our new designs and features. They’re a brilliant platform and team, who I’ve always enjoyed working with. *Star of Hope Tributes Pages and not Star of Hope Tribute Funds, because turns out from the research, people have no idea what a “tribute fund” is!

This summer, beat the heat during the dog days of summer by starting your own Create-A-Thon! 😎 Unleashing your creativity and basking in the glory of the air conditioning could actually benefit young adults facing cancer! Sooo... what exactly is Create-A-Thon? Create-A-Thon is a race you don't have to run! You choose the pace, the environment, and the challenge you set out to conquer. Express your creativity through painting, writing, cooking, playing music… or anything else that ignites your passion! Whether you choose a solo project or team up with friends, your efforts will raise funds to expand our free creative coping workshops for young adult cancer patients, survivors, and caregivers. No matter how you opt to activate your creativity, you’ll be cheered on by the Cactus Cancer Society community. In three easy steps, you’ll be off to the races: ✨ 1. Choose your challenge! ✨ 2. Spread the word! ✨ 3. Make an Impact! This creative marathon of your own making requires absolutely no running in the hot sun - unless you choose to! 🎨🌞 Learn more and get started on your coolest summer project today by by heading to our Create-A-Thon webpage! https://bit.ly/4aR9Jju #CreateAThon #NoRunningRequired #Journaling #Art #Doodling #CreativeExpression #AYACSM #SurvivalIsInsufficient #YoungAdultCancer #CancerSurvivor #CancerAwareness #Survivor #YACancer #AYACancer #Cancer #CactusCancer #CactusCreates #LetsMakeStuff

A grant opportunity from Prevent Cancer Foundation and a second from The Mockingbird Foundation: > The Prevent Cancer Foundation is investing in patient navigation efforts for cancer prevention and early detection for the 2024-2026 Community Grant cycle. Community-based organizations can apply for a $100,000 grant over two-year ($50,000 per year) to bolster their patient navigation efforts. > The Mockingbird Foundation provides grants to schools and nonprofits in the US that focus on music education for children. The Foundation is particularly interested in projects that foster creative expression and encourages applications associated with diverse or unusual musical styles, genres, forms, and philosophies. Grants range from $100 to $10,000.

Worth a watch, very moving and powerful:

Did you know that Canada ranks 13th in the world for deceased donor rates and 11th for living donor rates? Canada’s continued investment in donation activities such as mandatory referrals and donation physicians has improved donation rates to meet national and local system needs, but we must continue these efforts to become a world leader in this important field. Learn more about organ donation and transplantation data in Canada on CIHI’s new interactive web page: https://ow.ly/yXV350Rk9Na Learn more about international comparisons on the Global Observatory on Donation and Transplantation website: https://lnkd.in/g6TAvWke

Take a minute to read this.