I visited the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Conference for the first time. I was fortunate to receive a Patient Advocate Scholarship through ASCO's Conquer Cancer Foundation. Without that scholarship, I would not have been able to attend.
Nine years ago, I wasn't working (i.e., getting paid) by Blue Faery. I was volunteering my time as I had for the previous 12+ years. I was lucky to meet another advocate at that conference who said to me, "You must get paid for the work you do. You're too valuable."
Her words shifted my perspective. While it would be five more years before Blue Faery could pay me a salary (beginning in 2020), I realized that if I wanted Blue Faery to grow, I had to get paid.
In the past four years, we've grown from a small all-volunteer organization to a slightly larger (though still small by nonprofit standards) company with four full-time employees, many volunteers, and an active Board. The growing pains are not always easy, but we are helping more people every day.
Please keep us in your prayers as we attend ASCO this weekend. The meetings at this conference often determine our funding for the following year.
💙Andrea
P.S. Thanks to Facebook for bringing up this memory!
