20 Years Making a Difference!
20 Years of Making a Difference in 2020
At the 13thirty Cancer Connect Rochester center we kicked off our celebration of 20 years at our annual pancake breakfast! This annual tradition took on a much larger meaning this year. This year 13thirty Cancer Connect marks its 20 years of changing the landscape for teens and young adults with cancer.
“Twenty years ago I made a promise to my daughter, Melissa, ‘to make a difference, make things better’ for other teens and young adults facing a cancer diagnosis. Twenty years ago the world was not paying attention to the unique needs of the teen and young adult cancer population. While the rest of the world has started to catch up, the mission of 13thirty Cancer Connect has always been, and will always be, to help teens and young adults with cancer live their very best lives – today.”
-Lauren Spiker, 13thirty Founder & Executive Director
Since our beginning 20 years ago (first called Melissa’s Living Legacy Teen Cancer Foundation), 13thirty Cancer Connect has become an internationally known and respected leader in the field of adolescent and young adult (AYA) cancer with strong passion, clear vision, and steadfast commitment to a singular focus – teens and young adults with cancer. Started as a grass-roots effort twenty years ago, peer support programs for teens, young adults and their parents are offered at the 13thirty Center in Rochester and as of July 2019, also in the Syracuse community.
20th year celebrations will be held all year long for both community members and 13thirty families. Some of our signature events include the 8th Annual Bandana Bolt 5K on Sunday, June 7th at Seneca Park and Journeys, the 19th Annual Celebration of Living on Saturday, November 7th at Temple B’rith Kodesh.
Follow 13thirty Cancer Connect on social media and at 13thirty.org to keep up with our celebrations throughout the year!
Thank you to Congressman Joe Morelle NYS Senators Joe Robach and Rich Funke, and Corinda Crossdale, Monroe County who kicked off our 20th year celebration with our teens and young adults on Monday, January 20, 2020.
To see a full press release of our kick off event, please click here. Check out the news coverage of the event.
Celebrating Life at Journeys!
On November 4, we will gather once again for a celebration of life in honor of all the teens and young adults with cancer that we have been privileged to know and love over the years. This will be the 16th Journeys, our Annual Celebration of Living!
If you’ve been to Journeys, you know how special this night is. If you’ve never been, I hope this will be the year you will join us because Journeys is unlike any other charity gala. In fact, we don’t call it a gala because there is no formal dress, the special themed centerpieces are fashioned on my dining room table, and there are only a few, short speeches! We call it a Celebration because that’s what we do.
We celebrate all the kids who have inspired us to be the best we can be and to give as much as we’re able.
Past 13thirty members, whose bonds of friendship were forged years ago, reunite as if no time or space has separated them. Present members welcome potential new members in friendship. Our families share stories with common themes and guests who have not been touched by adolescent and young adult cancer are forever changed by the energy in the room.
During the cocktail hour, student groups provide the music, enthusiastic volunteers sell raffle tickets and corks for the wine pull, while delicious appetizers are passed by the wonderful staff of Creative Caterers. After dinner, the program starts with our time-honored, candle lighting ceremony, during which we remember our friends who — though gone — continue to warm our hearts with their light. We recognize special folks who have helped us. This year’s “Corporate Sponsor Salute” goes to ValPak of Rochester and Dr. Barbara Asselin will receive the “Make a Difference Award.”
And then, it’s time for the highlight of the night: The kids’ performance!
Each year, we have a theme around which the “kids” of 13thirty Cancer Connect craft a presentation that will give our guests an authentic view of what it’s like to be a teen or young adult with cancer. As you might gather from our invitation, this year’s theme is “Bridges” — but I’m not going to say any more. You’ll just have to come and see for yourself what we’ve put together for you! We are thrilled to be working with Larry Moss and Kelly Cheatle from Airigami (airigami.com) this year. Here’s a clue – there are balloons involved. Lots of them! Local poets, Charlie Cote and Danielle Shied, helped the kids put feelings to words and our friend Dan Roach, as always, makes us sound and look great!
It’s going to be an amazing night and I hope you will be there because if you are, you will see what keeps me going every day.
When Melissa died, our hearts were forever shattered but I knew we were strong enough to carry on, to continue living, to somehow put one foot in front of the other. What I didn’t know was just how much better I could be, how much more I could love, how much joy I would find in the young people I work with every day. They are the beacons of hope in this (sometimes) dark world. They rise above the small things and keep focus on what’s important. They truly live and love life and I am so very proud of them all.
I promise you, Journeys is a night you don’t want to miss! You can RSVP online until Oct. 26 at www.roc.13thirty.org.
See you on November 4th!
About the Author
Lauren Spiker is our founder, executive director, and chief visionary with a pulse on what’s happening in the world of AYA oncology. Her dreams are big and bold!