My mom loves American Idol. My mom has stage 4 metastatic breast cancer.
So I’ve never….I’ve never really been the kind of person who accepts reality — a trait I think I share with a lot of fellow Chicago entrepreneurs. Hell, I have an entire TEDx talk about rewriting your future to get out of your current reality.
But then…
Then there are those moments.
The ones where you find yourself feeling helpless.
When I found out my mother had stage 4 metastatic breast cancer it…just, fuck. It got me.
She had breast cancer before. And beat it! She received an “all clear,” and foolishly, I thought that was it. I thought we had done it.
Cancer.
Beaten.
…right?!
Turns out it doesn’t…it doesn’t really work like that.
So here it is.
Back.
She has started chemo and is already making friends at treatment by offering to help other people on her first day of treatment because the workers were exhausted. Which is just—that’s her! That’s my mom.
And now, a timeline I don’t get to write.
As scary as it is for me, it kills me to think about what she’s going through. Especially through so much of the treatment alone, during COVID-19.
Her and my father finally retired last year in December. 32 years in business together. Running a printing company and showing me what it meant to work hard, build something, and take care of those that dedicate their time to your business.
And this…this is supposed to be kick back and relax time. But now my parents find themselves traveling 90mins each way to regular chemo treatments.
So what can I do — how can I help?
Maybe I can give her something fun to be a part of. Something I created for her, that celebrates my local community, and raises money for other people going through this exact same thing.
Teaming With the American Cancer Society
Working with the American Cancer Society has been coordinated with the help of my incredible girlfriend, Ashley Havertine. In January of this year she found a job she was passionate about. A voice she wanted to have in helping to shape communities going through cancer. Something she went through at 21 years old when she lost her mother to cancer.
Beginning to work with ACS was a dream come true, and when COVID hit it rocked the world of non-profits. Since the onset of the pandemic, the number of mammograms being performed has dropped 87%, which could have a significant impact on the timely initiation of treatment for treatable cancers. Funding is more important now more than ever to keep the ACS mission alive. Every action moves them one step closer to a world without breast cancer.
Please, Create Your Own Open Mic
A big part of us creating this competition is to share everything we've created with the American Cancer Society. This website, the forms, the emails, our graphics — all of it. We want other people to work with ACS to run their own open mic challenge.
To give more communities the chance to celebrate their musicians, their comedians, whatever talent they might have. If you're interested in learning more about hosting your own open mic fundraiser reach out to ashley.havertine@cancer.org