When Families Need a Timeout from Cancer

There is a very harsh reality in the world of cancer. Despite the advances in cancer research, hundreds of thousands of people die each year from the disease—many are young Moms and Dads. When young families are faced with such a challenge, they find themselves not only fighting against the disease, but fighting to enjoy the simple moments of just being together as a family—a challenge they don’t have to face alone thanks to the Jack & Jill Late Stage Cancer Foundation (JAJF).

The Foundation, which was inspired by Jill and Jon Albert’s real life story of finding themselves and their two young children facing Jill’s Stage IV metastatic breast cancer, ensures that children and their parents ‘capture indispensible memories together that will be both a return to some normalcy now and a legacy to cherish.’ With family referrals coming from 98 leading cancer hospitals and centers throughout the U.S. and endorsements from the national oncology community including Nancy Brinker (Founder) and Hala Moddelmog (recent CEO)of Komen for the Cure as well as The National Cancer Institute, the Foundation treats the families, not the cancer.

“We give families WOW! Experiences® that allow them to take a time out from terminal cancer and spend quality, fun time together…while they can,” says Jon Albert, Founder and President of JAJF. JAJF has sent families all across America and beyond to resorts in the Caribbean, Hawaii, Florida, Arizona, Colorado, California, Mexico, big cities, concerts, award shows, ball games, cruises, theme parks, VIP tours, meet & greets, etc. These WOW! Experiences®, are made possible through the generosity and support of numerous national sponsors and partners. “Our partners and their brands are the heroes,” adds Albert. “The impact on these families across America is meaningful, tangible and measurable…and very real.”

Corporate sponsors include big brands focused on air travel (AirTran, Southwest and Continental) and accommodations (Starwood Resorts, Marriott, Ritz Carlton, Four Seasons and Loews) as well as activities (NBA, SeaWorld, Six Flags, The Grammy’s, The Country Music Assoc. etc.) and others such as The Coca-Cola Company, Northern Trust, Pfizer and National Geographic. This year’s M2Moms® Presenting Sponsor Kodak is a JAJF national partner and provides each family a digital video camera to capture the moments of their WOW Experience®. These poignant and powerful Kodak moments can be found in the Family Photo Gallery on the Foundation’s website. “We will gain more media exposure and goodwill for our partners because the stories are so visual, uplifting and highlight the compassion and generosity of our partners ” says Albert. “We are on the smile, laughter, joy, positive side of late stage cancer. We’re on the beach, sunset, dude ranch, ballgame, rollercoaster and concert side…the living side of dying from cancer…we are a celebration of being together as a family and so are our partners.”

USA TODAY just highlighted JAJF on their cover and featured them on page one of the MONEY section. The article highlighted their airline and hospitality partners. JAJF was also recently featured on The TODAY Show by Ann Curry and The Wall Street Journal in another cover story.

For more information on how your brand can help JAJF ‘treat the families, not the cancer®,’ visit the Foundation’s website: http://www.jajf.org.

Also, this year M2Moms® is proud to support JAJF with a raffle to send at least one family on a WOW Experiences® vacation. Don’t miss Jon Albert’s presentation on the first morning of the program and plan to participate in this special fundraising event.