December 2021 Newsletter

The (Up)Beat (Up)Date

We can hardly believe the 2021 calendar is coming to a close!  While we look to a new year and all the promise it holds with great anticipation, we also celebrate with gratitude. Without a doubt, the success and impact of the Foundation is a direct reflection of the talent, involvement, and passion provided by our ambassadors, donors, partners, and volunteers.

Thank you for your investment and belief in our mission, especially those who responded to our recent Holiday Appeal! Because of you, the Joe Andruzzi Foundation has made monumental strides in the support and programming we provide to cancer patients. TOGETHER, we have positively impacted countless lives and continue to create assistance pathways.

Of course, at the heart of JAF is our volunteer leadership, Board of Directors and committees, and our exceptional staff. Despite an ongoing pandemic and economic challenges, they consistently steward our resources to benefit the patients we serve. We are blessed to have them as leaders.

As so many of us are busily preparing for our own festivities, we keep the dedicated oncology healthcare professionals – doctors, nurses, surgeons, clinicians, researchers, social workers, patient advocates, support staff – and so many more wonderful providers in our hearts who will be working in treatment centers. Most significantly, we send our love, support, and strength to those patients and their families for whom cancer will be present this holiday season.

Wishing you and yours peace, health, and happiness,

Joe and Jen Andruzzi

Providing Help for Extraordinary Circumstances

 

Young Liam was almost four years old when he was diagnosed with B-cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia in 2018. While in treatment, his mother, Erin, was unable to work in order to have the time to care for her son. When she was preparing to return to work in the summer of 2021, Liam relapsed shortly after his birthday. It was the exact time Liam’s family had expected him to be at the end of his treatment, not returning to it. Liam’s relapse meant Erin had to remain at home once more to tend to his care needs.

In late 2021, their family was in a car accident. The accident left them with only one family vehicle, making it impossible for Liam’s father, the remaining income-producer, to get to work and for Erin to bring Liam to his many appointments and care for Liam’s siblings.

That’s where JAF was able to step in with support from the Pediatric Extraordinary Needs Fund, which provides financial assistance for expenses that present a barrier to treatment and whose costs serve as a significant financial burden to a household experiencing high levels of financial toxicity. The grant, made possible by our generous partner, One Mission, helped Liam’s family purchase a second vehicle that will allow them to maintain reliable access to transportation for Liam and the entire family.

“Take one day at a time, and with the help of organizations like the Joe Andruzzi Foundation, you will find a way to make everything that needs to be accomplished happen,” Erin, Liam’s mother, said.

Become a Bridge Builder and Provide Steady Support

Since 2019, Empower Retirement has been supporting the Joe Andruzzi Foundation’s (JAF) Bridge Builder monthly giving program, which provides consistent, sustainable funding to JAF’s patient grant recipients. Empower has helped JAF activate 60 Bridge Builder monthly donors whose annual support to date has totaled more than $30,000. Many of JAF’s current Bridge Builders have battled, or has had a family member battle, cancer during their lifetime.

You can help New England cancer patients and their families this holiday season by becoming a Bridge Builder. Through the end of December, if you become a Bridge Builder, you’ll receive a free JAF winter hat! Learn more about the program and how to sign up at our website.

 

Learn More

Pressing On During A Cancer Diagnosis

The Joe Andruzzi Foundation’s Food Security Program, presented by ROI Communications, provides New England cancer patients and their families with access to quality nutrition when they need it most through gift cards to participating grocery stores across New England.

One of those Food Security Program patient grant recipients is Brent, a Maine resident who has battled cancer since December 2020. Read how JAF’s newest program helped him by reading his story on our website.

Read More

Holiday Hop Over Series Wraps at True North Ale Company

We had so much fun rounding out our Holiday Hop Over events on Thursday, December 9 at True North Ale Company in Ipswich, Mass.! Thanks to the generosity of our attendees, the event raised over $2,000 in support of New England cancer patients and their families.

Thank you to True North Ale Company for supporting this event and welcoming JAF and all our supporters into their taproom, and to our event committee for working hard to spread the word about this event and making it a success!

We still have a limited number of Holiday Hop Over t-shirts, and custom Hop Over and True North Ale Company branded pint glasses left over from the event ($25 T-Shirts & $20 Pint Glasses). If you are interested in purchasing them, please contact Gillian at gillian@joeandruzzifoundation.org.

 

Thank You to Our Third-Party Fundraisers!

 

Community fundraisers are essential to the Joe Andruzzi Foundation and its growth. These events not only increase awareness of JAF’s mission, but they also raise funds to support the Foundation in providing financial assistance to New England cancer patients and their families during what can be the most stressful and challenging time of their lives.

In a year where we started returning to in-person events, JAF was blown away by the funds raised by several individuals and organizations through many supporter-hosted golf tournaments.

Thank you to Foster Country ClubROI CommunicationsTom Turco and Wachusett Country ClubClean Harbors Environmental ServicesLandmark/Prime HealthcareMichael Davidson and Golf Fights Cancer, and Liberty Cedar, Inc. Together these groups raised more than $165,000! We are so grateful for your unwavering support and dedication to our mission and the patients and families we serve!

To learn more about how you can get involved by hosting a fundraising event or initiative, click the button below.

Learn More

 

Partnerships Formed, Patients Supported

This year, JAF is grateful for the many new partnerships the Foundation established. The financial support from these corporations and other non-profit entities, through donations, sponsorships, and grants will allow JAF to further its mission and support even more patients living with cancer and their families throughout New England.

JAF would like to thank BearingstarThe Dunkin’ Joy in Childhood FoundationGlideFast ConsultingThe Maine Cancer FoundationNeedham BankThe New Hampshire Charitable Foundation, NH Home Buyers LLCOncopeptides, and ROI Communications for joining us as official partners in 2021!

 

Supporter Hosted Fundraisers

“Two Small Flags, One Big Gesture”

Local and well-renowned artist (and friend to Joe and Jen) Jeff Sparr created a one-of-a-kind piece, “Two Small Flags, One Big Gesture.”  This original design commemorates the historic game that all New Englanders will never forget, the Jets-Patriots game on September 23, 2001.

Thanks to Jeff’s incredible talent and generosity, JAF will be selling 63 one-of-a-kind limited edition prints with all proceeds going to JAF. You can purchase a print here.

Fab Finds Foxboro/Homestead Furnishing Wrentham

(34 School Street, Foxboro, MA/ 15 Franklin Street, Wrentham, MA)
Now – December 31

Fab Finds in Foxboro, Mass. and Homestead Furnishings (a pop-up store in Wrentham, Mass.) will be donating 10% of all their sales to JAF. Come shop a chic blend of old and new home décor! For more details follow them on Facebook or Instagram.

JAF Night at the Massachusetts Music & Arts Society: Ask/Answer
January 20, 2022

Join Joe and Jen Andruzzi for a very special night at the theater for a performance of Ask/Answer written by Ernest Thompson (Academy Award winner for Best Adapted Screenplay, On Gold Pond) at the Black Box Theater and Morini Gallery. A portion of all tickets sold benefit JAF.

Ask/Answer is a love story between two strangers who discover all is not lost, even in the midst of a mutual cancer journey. Following the show, guests can enjoy a ‘talk back’ (personal Q&A) with Ernest Thompson and Joe and Jen! Tickets are now on sale! To learn more about the play or to purchase your tickets, visit the MMAS website here.

The “Art for Hope” exhibition opens alongside Thompson’s play. Artwork will be featured throughout the gallery adjacent to the theatre. Forty percent of all sold work will benefit the Joe Andruzzi Foundation.

Click here for more information on these and other fundraisers benefiting JAF.

Secured By miniOrange