• 20 Years of Memories

    Journeys 2020 marked 13thirty Cancer Connect’s 20th year of making a difference for teens and young adults living with cancer. Journeys is an annual celebration of life where our members and their creativity are featured in a performance that our families and supporters are invited to watch. Though we wish we could have celebrated together in person, this year’s virtual event allowed members living around the country to watch from the comfort of their own homes. The pandemic has challenged us to adapt our programs and events to formats that allow members to safely connect with one another. Our generous sponsors have helped make our continuum of support possible during these uncertain times.

    Journeys 2020 included a performance of the Maroon 5 song, “Memories” sang by 13thirty members. This year’s awards went to Doug Spiker for the Make a Difference Award and Jim Blaesi of Blaesi’s Automotive for the Corporate Salute. Watch the song performance or the full event hosted by Corrie Carter from Polite Ink on our YouTube channel:

    Special Thanks

    memoriesWe owe a special thank you to Anthony Siciliano of Head to the Roots for opening the event with soothing acoustic music.

    If you enjoyed our Sips and Starters packages this year, we can thank Chef’s Catering, Flash Point Customs, Eastway Liquor and Wegmans for their help creating them.

    The “Memories” performance was put together by Matt Sengbusch and Jon Madden.

     

     

  • A Great Day for the Bandana Bolt

    “The National Cancer Survivors Day Foundation defines a survivor as anyone living with a history of cancer – from the moment of diagnosis through the remainder of life.”

    This year we celebrated our 8th annual Bandana Bolt the same day as the 33rd National Cancer Survivors Day. Our hearts at 13thirty Cancer Connect were warmed by the overwhelming virtual participation in this year’s Bandana Bolt 5k run/walk. We had participation all over the country, from coast to coast celebrating cancer survivors everywhere.


    “Fun Facts” about the Bandana Bolt 5K:

    • Bandanas are often worn by AYAs in treatment, hence the name – Bandana Bolt!
    • Although held virtually, 2020 was the 8th Annual Race. 2013 was our first year and we haven’t stopped running since!
    • The Rochester race is always held at Seneca Park.
    • The first few years the race was held in the fall, the morning right after Journeys!
    • With the exception of the 2020 design, the bandana design is typically a snapshot of a piece of work from NYC based artist and one of Melissa’s brothers, Mark Sengbusch. One of her other brother’s Matthew, helps us with the graphic design.
    • Every year, our AYAs create handmade custom butterfly medals for our race winners (due to COVID-19, we missed the tradition this year!)
    • The 1st Annual Bandana Bolt 5K – Syracuse will be held on Sunday, October 4th at Green Lakes Park. Fingers crossed!

    Not only does the Bandana Bolt help 13thirty Cancer Connect support our AYAs living with cancer, it raises nationwide awareness on their behalf. There’s no “good” time to have cancer, but being an AYA living with cancer is particularly challenging. AYAs are caught in the gap between pediatric and adult medicine and have seen little improvement in survival rates compared to other groups. Being separated from their peers and dealing with a diminished self-image presents unique challenges for AYAs. Read more about how 13thirty Cancer Connect advocates for AYAs living with cancer.

    Can’t get enough of this year’s Bandana Bolt? Check out our Facebook page for more photos.

  • Thank you to our 2019 Sponsors!

    We are so grateful for our many sponsors this year! Your help in 2019 made it possible for us to share our mission and benefit even more teens and young adults living with cancer. We have had successful annual events such as Journeys and Bandana Bolt and we have expanded! Our first additional chapter is now available for the Syracuse community of teens and young adults living with cancer.

    Sponsors Welcome

    Interested in becoming a sponsor? There are still Sponsorships available at the $150, $250, $500, $1,250 and $2,500 level! Email christina@13thirty.org to get involved!

    LEADERS

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    BELIEVERS

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    DREAMERS

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    BUILDERS

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    FRIENDS

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    Lou Siciliano, CPA

     

     

  • #Think13thirty on #ROCtheDay!

     

    ROC

    ROC the Day with 13thirty Cancer Connect!

    ROC the Day brings our community together and 13thirty Cancer Connect hopes to make this year a huge success. This a 24-hour giving opportunity to support nonprofits in the Greater Rochester area. Community supporters like you are encouraged to visit ROCtheDay.org, a secure online giving platform, to contribute to any participating nonprofit organization, like 13thirty Cancer Connect. Donors have can make an impact by giving to one or multiple organizations to support their personal philanthropic passions. We hope you consider 13thirty Cancer Connect!

    When you choose 13thirty Cancer Connect, you are supporting vital peer support programs for teens and young adults with cancer. In fact, all money given during ROC the Day stays local. What’s more, United Way of Greater Rochester is hosting ROC the Day as a service to our community and will cover their portion of the standard processing fee! That means your contribution will have an even greater impact for teens and young adults with cancer.

    New Goals for the New Year

    Last year we raised over $1,500 in just one day. We’re hoping to inspire even more ROCstar donors to give to 13thirty Cancer Connect this year. This year a handful of lucky ROCstar donors will be randomly chosen to give a free, additional $500 to the charity of their choice! As a 13thirty Champion, we wanted to let you know about this activity and invite you to join us in supporting this 24 hours of unprecedented nonprofit giving.

    #ROCtheDay #Think13thirty

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    2018 Bandana Bolt Sponsors

    Thank You 2018 Bandana Bolt Sponsors!

    We want to send a huge thank you to all of our generous sponsors that helped make the 2018 Bandana Bolt possible. Thank you to our 13thirty Friends, Builders, Dreamers, Believers, and Leaders for believing in what we do. We love participating in the Greater Rochester community along side our volunteers and sponsors. With support from our sponsors, we hope to continue to grow this annual event and we truly cannot do it without your help. Our 5k race proceeds help to support our mission at 13thirty Cancer Connect:

    To help adolescents and young adults (AYAs) impacted by cancer live their very best lives – today!

    We offer weekly programs to our 13thirty teens and young adults and monthly programs to parents. Programs include the arts, fitness and nutrition, and just getting together and having fun with people who understand. Our center is where they connect with others who get what its like to be an AYA living with cancer. So here’s to many more Bandana Bolts and in turn, many more programs!

    Interested in becoming a sponsor for next year’s Bandana Bolt or some of our other events in the community? Learn more about our events and contact us about how to get involved.