Sponsor

Komen me

The REACH FOR THE JOY Fundraiser

I am now going it alone. And I am better for it.

This has been a long and sometimes extremely challenging journey. When I first heard the news I never dreamed I would still be here, nearly 2 and a half years later. I am grateful for each and every day and now I expect to keep this little body going and going… Unfortunately, there are still days that I am unable to get out of bed. The possibility of getting a “regular” job just isn’t a reality, as much as I long to work and contribute. Even that is something I have learned to accept and am finding new ways to enJOY my life. I am even working on ways to bring income into my home. But it isn’t easy. Not when my health is so unpredictable.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart for any contributions you are able to share. Your help provides me the ability to focus on the essentials: Healing, Joy, Comfort and Love.

Please make donations payable to REACH FOR THE JOY. A Paypal link is in the sidebar.

There are many ways you can help: Link my site to yours, spread the word and ask everyone you know to log onto reachforthejoy.org, click on the sponsored links on the right low side bar, ask your company to consider sponsorship of my living journal (which I am hoping to transform into a book!), send a few bucks… Even with the best insurance, cancer is digging a money pit that is getting deep, and my disability payment hardly keeps me above the poverty line (Hi diddlee dee! An actor’s life for me!).

I am hoping to publish my book telling not only My story but also the stories of women who have beaten the odds- women who, like me, were diagnosed at stage 4 and given a death sentence who refused to hear it and continue to thrive- to raise their babies, to contribute, to LIVE! If you are one of those survivors, please, please email me- I want to know your story and how you are doing it- who is helping you- how you pray- how you heal- how you live.

The mission of Reach for the Joy is to eradicate cancer one person at a time (phase 1). Once my needs have been met for treatment, we hope to help a young woman with pancreatic cancer. She is 23 and was just starting her “adult life” when this awful, terrible dis-ease took the joy out of her. She is faithful and hopeful- as am I- that she will find her passion and joy for life once again.

Phase two is to assist those with life threatening illnesses find the “joy in the suffering” through spirit, mind, heart and even body. My goal is to raise money to assist those with terminal diagnoses create JOY in their lives in spite of (and because of) their personal challenges. To that end, I have set up a non-profit, Reach for the Joy, Inc. It is still in pending status, but will be retroactive for any donations.

 I feel that this website has become a tool for inspiration. I receive letters of gratitude every week.

Whatever you know, wherever you can point this site, however you can help, I thank you.

Any amount of positive energy increases exponentially. I have re- engaged a PayPal account linked to this site. I owe so many people lots of money and they deserve to be paid. The last fund raising efforts helped me raise nearly $20,000! Yet sadly much more is needed.

With Boundless Gratitude
-Karen
kareng@reachforthejoy.org