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...

By: Laura Alabed-Olsson Over the last 12 months, I’ve had the honor of working on an awareness campaign for Gilda’s Club, based on the premise that everyone has a cancer story. At a point in time when three out of four families are impacted by cancer – and given the range of cancer stories shared...

It began in December with an introduction from our board member Sharon Turner-Friley, MSW, Assistant Dean for Special Programs, Student Academic Affairs at Meharry Medical College. Next came the invitation for Felice to represent Gilda’s Club on a panel of experts teaching second-year medical students about end-of-life-issues and best practices for communicating with patients and their families; she joined colleagues from Alive Hospice and Meharry in the February event. Not surprisingly, the students asked...

By: Jim Corum, Board Chair As a long-time member of Gilda’s Club Middle Tennessee’s Board of Directors – and, as of January 1, as our new Board Chair – I’m often asked, “why Gilda’s Club.” People want to know what brought me to the organization and why I’m committed to sharing my time, energy and...

By Hayley Levy, Director of Development  At this time of year, many of us are consumed by thoughts of holiday traditions, cherished family time, delicious food, travel plans and (if we’re lucky) snow days. My favorite part of the season, however, is the generosity people show around the holidays – to those they know and...

During November and December, we are bombarded with messages encouraging us to be thankful, grateful, and count our blessings. This practice is believed to increase positive mental health and good feelings. At Gilda’s Club, we understand that when you or someone you care about has cancer, you might not be feeling grateful or thankful –...

On August 3, Gilda’s Club Middle Tennessee celebrated its 21st birthday. Around the Clubhouse, people keep joking that we’re “finally legal” – because who could resist? But joking aside, what a remarkable milestone: Twenty-one years of one-on-one and group support. Twenty-one years of activities and educational events. Twenty-one years of creating community, so that no...