Category: Blog
CanCare volunteers are cancer survivors and caregivers who engage with newly diagnosed cancer patients and their caregivers, providing one-on-one emotional support, practical advice and hope. Support volunteers are matched with clients by cancer type, treatment method, life stage, age, and gender.
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The September October 2021 issue of HealthLinks includes an article about CanCare Charleston. Written by Cindy Landrum, the article gives readers an understanding of what we do and why. Charleston’s CanCare organizer Lynn Joye was interviewed for the article and provides insights into what and why the organization exists.
“Meeting actual survivors on the other side of their cancer journey is reassuring to newly diagnosed patients…”
“The beautiful thing about CanCare is that you continue to heal as you help others,” she added. “It is helpful for us, and it gives the newly diagnosed and their loved ones the hope they may not have even known they needed.”
We recently invited one of Charleston CanCare’s first donors to write a letter explaining why he decided to contribute seed money to our new CanCare affiliate and we share his note with you to thank and applaud him for his philanthropy and caring.
“I am an 18-year survivor of multiple myeloma, a lethal blood cancer. For most of those years, I have looked for ways to use my story to encourage other people with cancer. Two years ago, I realized that CanCare could enable me to help people with the same kind of cancer I recovered from. I currently support six cancer patients, four with multiple myeloma.
As I became more invested in helping develop the structure and leadership of CanCare of Charleston, I saw an immediate need to build revenue to both support and expand our local program. I also knew that contributions from within our organization would encourage outside donors to offer us gifts and grants.
My wife Susan and I are committed to tithing — giving 10% of our income to Christian ministries. Most of that tithe goes to the church, but we also give to more than a dozen other nonprofits, especially those in which we are personally involved. Naturally, we felt the need to make a gift to CanCare. We hope that this “seed money” will support training, videos, brochures and other goods and services that will help us reach people who so desperately need survivors by their side.”
One of our local CanCare clients has crocheted all these blankets during her cancer treatment and plans to gift them to patients in the infusion center at Roper St. Francis Cancer Center.
This is a photo of our second CanCare class (#87).
In this class we had 13 volunteers who survived the following cancers:
And in this class we had caregivers to loved ones who had had the following cancers:
brain
Do you know the types of cancers our volunteers have experienced?
At our first training class, we had 12 volunteers attend who had survived the following cancers:
We had caregivers whose loved ones had had the following cancers:
If you are interested in becoming a volunteer, please go to this page to get more information.
Jeannine M. Harrell, MA, a licensed professional counselor associate with offices in Mount Pleasant, is offering a complimentary session to local cancer patients, or caregivers, or CanCare volunteers.
Ms. Harrell says, “Human beings are naturally resilient, but it’s also natural to feel overwhelmed at times.” She notes on her website that counseling helps as you explore the emotions you have related to the issues in your life.
According to Cancer.net and the American Society of Clinical Oncology, getting counseling can help you:
On Saturday, November 15 and Sunday, November 16, the third local class of CanCare volunteers completed their training which was held at St. Andrews Anglican Church in Mount Pleasant. This was the first time that the training was done entirely by local trainers: Ken Alexander, Louise Harvell, Lynn Joye, and Mary Wilbur. In addition, Dr. Elizabeth Christian, a retired oncologist, gave a talk to the volunteers. The training was also attended by Teresa Doyle from the Houston CanCare organization who observed and provided feedback to the trainers. Women from St. Matthews Lutheran Church provided lunch for the group on Saturday.
All CanCare training classes, no matter where in the country they take place, are numbered so our graduates can proudly refer to the class they attended. CanCare began in Houston, TX and now has affiliates in Colorado Springs, CO, Atlanta, GA and Charleston, SC.
Class #96 was trained in Mt. Pleasant, SC and had survivors of the following cancer types:
This class had caregivers to loved ones who had had the following cancers:
We extend congratulations and a warm welcome to the newest certified CanCare volunteers!
On the afternoon of Sunday, June 2, Lynn Joye, Louise Harvell and Jean Anglin attended the National Cancer Survivors Day event which is hosted each year by the Tri-County Cancer Survivors Organization. The event honors survivors and their caregivers and includes guest speakers, music, information tables, food and other activities.
