Last year was the first time Healing Journeys participated in the Big Day of Giving. It’s a big deal in the Sacramento area with about 600 non-profits taking part. The Sacramento Region Community Foundation that organizes it offers prizes for the day. They give a prize every hour for the group that raises the most money, and another prize for the group that has the most donations during that hour. Last year we won $1,000 for having the most donations between 11 a.m. and 12 noon Pacific Time. Thank you to all of you who helped make that happen.

Let’s do it again this year! The Big Day is May 3rd and we are again asking you to donate between 11 a.m. and 12 noon Pacific Time. The minimum donation is $15 and you can only be counted once. If everyone reading this makes a donation during that time, I’m sure we will win again. Thank you! They don’t know yet how much the prizes will be this year since they are still doing their fundraising for the event, but it will be at least $500.

We are especially grateful for your support this year because we will be offering a free one-day conference on September 8th in Sacramento to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Healing Journeys. All donations will support that free event.

You may have noticed that you aren’t receiving postal newsletters from us anymore. Our last one was in Spring 2016. The cost is prohibitive, and most people get their information online. Since there are still people we don’t have email addresses for, we are sending out a postcard in a few weeks to stay in touch with everyone. Please watch for it and pass it along to someone you think might be interested in our work. It will give you information on three events in 2018: the Big Day of Giving; Trusting Your Inner Guidance workshop in Oakland; and the Cancer as a Turning Point, From Surviving to Thriving™ free conference in Sacramento.

The focus of the conference will be on Stories of Healing, and I have booked some great story tellers. Their stories of healing are unique and each will be sharing what they attribute their healing to, and what they learned along the way. I will be telling you more about who they are in future eNewsletters.

We will also experience the healing music of Susan Mazer and Dallas Smith, and will be invited to come on stage and drum with the Sacramento Taiko Dan who performed at our first conference, in Monterey in 1994. Since we are planning for this to be our last conference, it is appropriate they be on the program again, celebrating our 25th anniversary. Participants over the years have said what made the most difference in their lives at the conference was banging on that Taiko drum. Empowering and inspiring are some of the words they used to describe their experience.

Yes, you read that right — I said this will be our last conference. The times are changing. People have busier lives, and much of the information we crave is available on the internet. I still believe cancer patients/thrivers benefit greatly by networking with each other in person, and I plan to continue facilitating that process in smaller workshops. So it’s not the end of Healing Journeys, just the end of the Cancer as a Turning Point™ conference.

It’s been a good run and I am so grateful for all the beautiful people I have encountered on this journey. I feel like you are part of my support group, and I am inspired by you every day. I hope you will come join our celebration on September 8th.

As always, I welcome your comments; to reply please click here.

In the Spirit of Healing,

Jan Adrian, MSW
Founder and Executive Director