THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Here’s the thing... in my first job out of college I was basically a bill collector for an electronics store where I worked with customers who were behind on payments (I think I was hired because they figured I could run away from angry customers). Then I worked with individuals experiencing financial hardship and on public assistance (a job I took “until something better came along” but, after more than ten years, I was still there). And now I find myself working with individuals diagnosed with cancer. It is truly an honor and a privilege to be involved with Matthews Oncology Associates, Sheboygan Cancer & Blood Specialists, the TLC (Together we Live with Cancer) Supportive Community and the Sheboygan County Cancer Care Fund and it’s Survive, Thrive & Be Fit activities for more than nineteen years now!
I have learned from and enjoyed each of these jobs but, let’s face it, they each involve some less-than-pleasant circumstances (behind in bills, financial hardship, cancer diagnosis). Kiddingly, I have suggested it would be nice to someday have a job where people would truly be glad to see me... like handing out million-dollar lottery winnings! 😊
Although I am certainly not giving out million-dollar checks, my role with the Sheboygan County Cancer Care Fund does allow me the opportunity to provide some financial relief to those in need. On one recent occasion after the fund assisted a local family I received an e-mail note that read “Thank You” several times, to which I responded, “You are welcome... however, I am only the lucky guy that gets to play Santa Claus (a bald, scrawny Santa Claus) all year-round! Those that deserve the thanks are those in our community who donate to the fund and who organize, volunteer, support and attend our fundraisers... because without them SCCCF could NOT do what SCCCF does!!!”
It has been through the generous support that the Cancer Care Fund has received from the community that allows us to provide much-needed “Gestures” (financial assistance) to area cancer patients and survivors struggling with the financial challenges of a cancer diagnosis (having provided more than $1.5 million worth of assistance since 2002) along with our growing “Survive, Thrive & Be Fit” wellness opportunities to help area cancer patients and survivors cope with and recover from disease and treatment-related conditions and side effects (with more than 75 area cancer survivors involved so far this year alone)!
I realize that, as a representative of SCCCF, it would be IMPOSSIBLE to adequately thank everyone who makes the work of SCCCF possible! For that I apologize... but I will continue to do my best! And I ask you to please join me in thanking all of our supporters including the event organizers, sponsors, volunteers and participants for all of our fundraising events!
As Always, Tim