January 25, 2023

 

Dear Friends,

Compassion and love are behind everything we do at Faith & Gratitude. We have the privilege of bringing hope through empowerment & education to both our patients and caregivers.  We also humbly share in the sadness that comes with battling this terrible disease.  We continue to hold steadfast to our mission of providing programs that teach cancer patients how to strengthen their mind, body, and spirit during treatment and beyond.

The progress we made in 2022 is a direct reflection of your support.  To our team and donors across the country – thank you.  Because of your generosity, Faith & Gratitude was able to refine our programs, and serve more patients in more parts of the country than ever before.   Let’s look at our 2022 progress by the numbers.

  • Cancer Resource Guides.  Requests for our beloved guides come from all over the country.  Once they receive it, this tool is instrumental in helping patients stay organized and feel empowered from their initial diagnosis through treatment.  We distributed 150 guides last year.
  • Wellness Events. Two in-person events, held in June & September, provided interactive sessions that also fostered companionship and sharing. Our first event was an amazing healing sound meditation and our second event highlighted various complementary therapies by four speakers. We had 40 people in attendance.
  • Celebration Circle. Our online support group truly thrives and provides a constant source of learning, compassion, and love twice a month.  Long standing attendees now provide mentoring on their own and that really says it all.  We had on average 10 people participate in the group sessions.
  • One on One Support.  Direct outreach, private conversations and providing a listening ear will always be a mainstay in our organization.  We have also invested in several cancer books and provide them to patients based on their individual circumstances. We worked directly with 27 cancer patients last year.
  • Website.  Often the starting point to where we direct patients, our website is truly Faith & Gratitude’s resource center.  Patients and caregivers can find a host of information — from complementary therapies to nutritional recipes to upcoming events.   In 2022 we had 1257 new visitors that engaged with our site.
  • Speaker Series.  This online series is our newest core program with the goal of providing first-hand insights from practitioners and specialists that have an integrative, holistic approach to treating cancer.  We produced two segments in 2022: Chris Wark, best-selling author of Chris Beat Cancer, and Dr. Mark Rosenberg, founder of Advanced Medical Therapeutics.  Our first segment aired in November with 329 registrants, and our 2nd segment will be shown this February.

At the start of 2022, Faith & Gratitude’s funding was approximately $72,000 to provide these programs to cancer patients.  Our total expenses of $61,000 were distributed as follows:

  • Patient Programs 89.2%
  • Marketing 1.9%
  • Administrative 6.5%
  • Insurance 2.4%

Our fundraising efforts were also a success. A “Girls Night Out”, held in July, was a fabulous gathering of friends, fun and great food.  In the fall we continued with our “Gracious Giving” campaign to both businesses & individuals.  Together we were able to raise $40,000.  In addition, our significant grants included $5,000 from the FirstEnergy Foundation, $10,000 from the Pittsburgh Foundation, $5,000 from the Dr. Joe Foundation, and $1,000 from the Scott & Ruth Apter Charitable Foundation. We can’t thank all our donors enough for ensuring that we raised the monies needed to maintain each of our core programs in 2023.

Along with our programs, our team continued to expand last year.  We welcomed one new board member and four new committee members that made a huge difference in enabling our small & mighty organization to reach its program & fundraising goals.  We are so fortunate to have the support of so many talented individuals.

We are set to begin 2023 with a year of impactful patient programs that will provide empowerment, hope, and compassion.  We are immensely grateful for your support …. and above all want to reinforce that you are truly making a difference in the lives of people facing cancer.

 

With much gratitude,


Lori Ball
Founder & Partner

Kathy Alexander
Partner