By Harriet Schiftan, MSW, MAJCS President and CEO  I’m excited to share that we have a plan for returning to in-person cancer support. Despite the success of our virtual support offerings over the last 15 months – and our intention to continue providing virtual support over the long-term – this is the moment we’ve all...

One of the things I appreciate most about Gilda’s Club is the space we hold for those impacted by cancer to experience their full range of emotions. Whether celebrating good news, sitting with uncertainty, or grieving a loss, we welcome and encourage everyone who walks through our red door to feel “all the feelings” –...

By Allison Yonker, LMSW, Program Director For the first time in a long time, I’m able to turn on the news and pick up the newspaper with a sense that change is on its way. While we continue to wear masks, social distance, and take all the precautions we’ve become so familiar with, more and...

I’m hearing lots of post-pandemic predictions that we will take many of our newly adopted habits and newly learned skills with us into our “next normal”. We may like having a couple of weekly meetups via Zoom, rather than driving across town to attend a nighttime meeting (Can you even imagine?). We may be more...

This article originally appeared in our January 2021 Gilda Gram. Gilda’s Club is fortunate to have an Associate Board (AB) comprised of young professionals supporting our mission. We recently sat down with Gilda’s Club President and CEO Harriet Schiftan, Director of Development and Associate Board Liaison Hayley Levy, and Associate Board Chair Anne Fletcher to...

By: Hayley Levy As Gilda’s Club’s namesake Gilda Radner used to say, “It’s always something!” Many of you have seen this phrase on our T-shirts and stickers, or perhaps you’ve read Gilda’s memoir It’s Always Something*; she used it for just about anything that came her way, including her cancer. Today, Gilda’s phrase has never been truer...

By: Allison Yonker, LMSW, Program Director What a year. For all the pivots, adjustments, and shuffling we’ve all had to do this year, at least one thing has remained the same. Gilda’s Club continues to create community, so no one has to face cancer alone. When we made the decision to suspend in-person activities at...

By Harriet Schiftan, MSW, MAJCS, President & CEO Last week, we held our final special event of the 2020 calendar year: The annual Gilda’s Club Golf Classic. As members of our team were packing up at the end of the day and recalling the many unique events-related challenges we’ve overcome this year (Hello, virtual Songwriters...

By Felice Apolinsky, LCSWProgram Director As I sit to write this, I am grieving the recent death of my precious father and beginning to process the final two weeks of his life, which I was thankfully able to spend alongside him in the hospital. Witnessing his incredibly gentle release, I am heartbroken while also filled...

We are 120 days into a novel way of doing everything: cancer support, volunteering, fundraising, committee meetings, relationship building, and leadership development. We are well past the shock of having to work remotely, and we are not handwringing about how long we will be working from home while offering virtual cancer support groups and activities...