Volunteer Corner

North Carolina Picnic Attendees

BCAN’s online support community is growing and thriving. This active group of over 800 survivors, caregivers, family members, and other loved ones provide peer support, guidance and advice from a patient and caregiver perspective to one another. It is wonderful to watch newly-diagnosed bladder cancer survivors receive support and have their questions answered by others who have been through what they are facing. This warm, welcoming community is available to survivors, caregivers, and loved ones 24 hours a day. (Click on the orange button on the left-hand side to get to the support community.)

40 members of this online support community gathered for a picnic in North Carolina on July 18th so they could finally meet in person after sharing so much with each other online. As you can see from the pictures, it was a beautiful event. One participant shared this impression: “As my husband and I mingled with others at the picnic, I was blessed by the encouragement and support of everyone gathered. As we joined hands in a prayer circle to pray for both those present and those who could not make it to the event, our spirits were lifted in unity. As the picnic in the Smoky Mountains’ breathtaking landscape came to an end, it was clear that we were living proof of the tagline for BCAN – ‘Together We’re Better.’” For the complete personal account of this event and its significance to the participants, please click here.

With the help of survivors who volunteered to tell their story, the event garnered some local and regional media attention. In addition to stories appearing in two regional newspapers and on the Asheville, NC TV news, participants from New Jersey and Florida also got their stories published, raising awareness of bladder cancer in their local areas.

Another face-to-face gathering took place this month when a dozen New England members of the online community met in Massachusetts for lunch and conversation.

Given the success of these local gatherings, BCAN is starting to organize a national “Bladder Cancer Awareness Day” to be held on a weekend in July. We are asking volunteers to host “family reunion-style” picnics, events or other activities for those affected by bladder cancer at different locations around the United States and Canada. BCAN will provide volunteers the tools to help get local media attention and also work to gain national media attention on bladder cancer awareness. To volunteer to help with a local event, please e-mail Janet McIver, BCAN’s Information and Outreach Coordinator, at volunteer@bcan.org.