Our Good News Holiday Campaign is the culmination of our year of “Time to Tell the Stories 2022.” In this series, we celebrate the connections, the celebrations, the events and milestones that we’ve been privileged to be a part of this year. Our 20th anniversary year is winding down and we are wrapping it up by spreading good news & gratitude throughout the season. Your financial donations and selfless volunteerism are what enable us to continue providing vital services to our GIST community.
Celebrating Our Global Impact!
Dear Friends,
Are you aware how far the global reach of the Life Raft Group extends? As the LRG Global Relations Consultant, I have the privilege of speaking with patients from all around the world, with new countries joining us every day.
With that global reach, we also face global challenges: access to medications and treatment, and often the barriers that come with economic and political issues. Even war, as in Ukraine.
Why do I choose to take on these challenges? When I was finally diagnosed correctly and could start the correct treatment, after seven years of being misdiagnosed, I just wanted to live, and didn´t want to hear anything related with cancer, but as time went on, I realized how fortunate I had been, and how important it is to have support and help while navigating the challenges of survival.
I felt that I needed to do something to help others. This is how I found, and started collaborating with The Life Raft Group, and founded Fundación GIST Chile in my country, as a way of giving back what I had received.
Helping patients to find a GIST specialist, connect them with their local support groups, guide them to have mutational testing done, and letting them know thar we are here for them, has been a real gift for me, and has made me feel that I have received a lot more than what I have given. Helping patients to look to the future with eyes of hope has been priceless! Each time I get to help a patient, I am grateful for organizations like The Life Raft Group and specially, for being part of it.
But with so many global challenges, I am asking you to help us continue extending a helping hand across the globe for those GIST patients and caregivers who may feel alone.
Won’t you please consider donating to the LRG today?
Gracias. Merci. Thank you. In any language, I am grateful for the help of people like you.
– Piga Fernández, LRG Global Consultant, International GIST Mentor Director & Executive Director of Fundación GIST Chile
