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Voices of Hope Monthly Newsletter, October 2014
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Thanks for subscribing to the monthly newsletter for Voices of Hope! We appreciate your interest in our organization and our mission; to help fund the ongoing research to find a cure for cancer. Look here every month for our most recent news, our upcoming events, and ways that you can help. As long as there is research to be done, our voices of hope will sing out for the cure!
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Rehearsals have begun for the Christmas Concert!
We are thrilled to have been invited to join the Merrimack Valley Philharmonic Orchestra on stage for their Christmas Concert this year. Voices of Hope will be performing four choral numbers, with roughly fifty of our members raising their voices in holiday cheer, and our own Chris Desjardins guest conducting.
The concert will be Sunday, December 7th at the Rogers Center for the Performing Arts at Merrimack College in North Andover. Tickets can be purchased here.
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Fundraisers Galore
We have several fundraisers coming up in the next few months, and we wanted to take a moment to tell you about them.
Please continue to support us on Amazon Smile. It's an easy way to give as you make your holiday purchases. Go to Amazon Smile and log in with your Amazon account information. Choose Voices of Hope, Inc as your charity of choice, and then shop Amazon smile. A portion of the money you spend there will be donated to us, and it has all the convenience of shopping on Amazon.
Pink and All that Jazz! Di Longtin will be teaching a Fosse themed dance class on October 26th, with proceeds from the class going to VOH! Please consider attending this fun (and aerobic) fundraiser. For details view our flyer here.
Texas Roadhouse has partnered with us to sell gift cards with part of the proceeds going to VOH. Gift cards can be ordered in any amount, from now until December 1st. They'll be printed with the VOH logo on them, and 20% of all sales go to Voices of Hope as a fundraiser! To order gifts cards, or to request an order form so you can sell gift cards, please contact Elise Boland at [email protected].
Please support Voices of Hope for Giving Tuesday. December 2nd is the National Day of Giving, and we'd like to spread the word about VOH as a worthy non-profit. Email your friends, post on Facebook, and tweet #GivingTuesday @VOHorg. Donations to VOH can be made here.
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Recent Events
Our fall membership meeting on October 2nd was well attended. Thanks to all who came! Highlights of the meeting included the announcement of our spring production of Godspell (2012 revival version). Watch the newsletter for further details about this exciting show, coming May 2nd to North Shore Music Theater in Beverly.
The American Cancer Society's Making Strides Breast Cancer Walk on October 5th was a gorgeous day--sunny and perfect at the Hatch Shell on the Esplanade. With the weather in such a cooperative mood, the turn out was better than ever, and we were thrilled to perform at such an amazing event.
VOH performed for the Friends of Mel at their Art of Living Beyond Cancer Conference on October 18th, and a number of us came away with their beautiful bracelets. It was an honor to perform for a room filled with cancer survivors and caregivers, and to hear Dr. Schnipper offer such valuable advice.
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Spotlight: The Takacs Family
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The Takacs Family, August 2008
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As a community that is rooted in the struggle against cancer, Voices of Hope has its fair share of survival stories. Survival can take many forms, but for far too many of us it amounts to reshaping our lives after the loss of a loved one. Living the best way we know how in the wake of a terrible tragedy.
Grace, Rosemary, and Alison Takacs have a story like that. In April of 2008, Jim Takacs--father to Grace and Rosemary, husband to Alison--was about to celebrate his 47th birthday when he was diagnosed with cancer. Ten days later his family learned that it was pancreatic, and it was stage four.
Pancreatic cancer is among the top twelve
most frequently diagnosed cancers in the country, and is ranked fourth in cause of death. It also has the lowest survival rate by far. After five years, only 6% of those with pancreatic cancer are expected to still be alive. It can be asymptomatic for most of the early stages, which means that many cases, like Jim's, are not caught until very late.
In November of 2008, just six and half months after his diagnosis, Jim passed away. Grace was eight and Rosemary was ten when they lost their father; and Alison was left with the prospect of raising her daughters alone, widowed far too young.
But survivor stories come in all kinds. And the Takacs women aren't just survivors. They're inspirations.
They've been fundraising for pancreatic cancer research ever since the early months, right after Jim's diagnosis. They've continued ever since, throwing their energy into doing all they can to eradicate this disease. To date the three of them, personally, have raised over $50,000 for PANCAN (the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network) as well as leading their PurpleStride team to another $50,000 in donations. They've also traveled to Washington to lobby for the Recalcitrant Cancer Research Act, which was signed into law in 2013. | Rosemary, Alison, and Grace Takacs, 2014
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Since the fall of 2013 they've been performing with VOH, offering up their considerable talents along with their time and dedication. When asked about their time with Voices of Hope, Alison had this to say:
"VOH is more than just another community theater. [...] Everyone there has the same cause so close to their hearts. You can't really put into words what it is like to perform with this group--creating beautiful music and moving theatrical experiences for others and, at the same time, making such a difference by raising awareness and much-needed research dollars."
The Takacs women are making a difference, and we are blessed to have them as a part of the VOH family.
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Upcoming Events
 Come sing with us, or hear us perform!
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Raise Your Voice With Ours!
Have you or a loved one been impacted by cancer? Want to sing along side us? Want to organize a fundraiser for us? Want to ask us to come sing at your fundraiser? Let us know! We believe that each new voice brings us closer to the cure.
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We appreciate your support as we aim for our fundraising goals. Every year we strive to give more to the Henri and Belinda Termeer Center for Targeted Therapies at Mass General Hospital, and it's all thanks to you! |
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Voices of Hope, 171 Park St, Stoneham, MA 02180
Voices of Hope is a 501(c)3 Non-profit Organization
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Ordinary people, on an extraordinary mission...
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