I took a leap of faith, moving across the country to work for a small non-profit that was dreaming of launching a program to provide direct cancer support. Part of the appeal of working for a young non-profit is that it feels as if the sky is the limit and the mission is at the center of our every day conversation – providing free at-home care supplies to cancer patients in need! It is so rewarding to spend your day focused on making a difference in the life of someone impacted by cancer.

My role as Program Director has required me to be on the phone, speaking in the community, Emceeing events, and sending notes and emails to individuals and businesses I’ve never met. Putting yourself out there can be tough. Good thing for me, I’m an extrovert so it isn’t too much of a stretch. Still, no one likes to hear “no”,”not now”, or “no thanks” or even worse get no reply at all.

Thankfully, we have had a lot of individual donors take a leap of faith and say “yes”, providing over $12,000 worth of at-home care items to stock care boxes for the 25 local cancer patients we have served through the Care Box Program since October 2014.

We have also been fortunate to have some families and companies say “yes” too. We have had some incredible companies donate at-homw care items directly to stock our shelves, going directly to the cancer patients we serve. Still others have believed in us by donating to help us have an office space, lights, shelves, internet, and even a little paycheck. This has allowed us to move into a space that has on-site storage and a space for volunteers from the community to come help us box up and deliver the care boxes. These incredible Founding Partners also allow us to have our ColorCancer Promise – 100% of all donations made on colorcancer.org go directly to providing at-home care supplies to cancer patients in the Greater Austin Area!

Want to take a leap of faith with me? Be a part of this incredible cancer support community by joining the growing list of individuals, families, and companies that are making a real and direct impact in the lives of individuals with cancer in our community! I’d love to hear from you. lisa.keefauver@colorcancer.org.