Friday, March 20, 2020
Dear Gilda’s Club NYC Community,
We hope you and your loved ones are all safe and healthy as we all navigate our lives through this health crisis. As important members of our community, we want you to know that the safety of our special community of cancer patients and their families, our staff and volunteers has been our top priority. In anticipation of the rapid spread of COVID-19, we temporarily closed our Clubhouse on West Houston Street on Friday, March 13th and it will remain closed until it is safe to return.
With our staff working remotely, we have adjusted our programming to provide free, virtual cancer support to our members and to welcome new members, so that no one faces cancer alone, even during uncertain times. We could not have accomplished this transition quickly and seamlessly without the dedicated support of our professional staff. I am forever grateful for what we have accomplished together as a team with one purpose in mind – our members.
COVID-19 is particularly threatening to the cancer community we serve. By transitioning our in-person program to our new accessible virtual program, our members can continue to participate in support groups, networking groups, healthy lifestyle workshops and lectures, all while safely remaining at home. Here are some highlights of our new virtual program:
- All Weekly and Monthly support groups were set up for teleconferencing from March 16-20 and now will shift to the video conferencing platform Zoom, starting March 23rd, Monday – Friday.
- Workshops were launched using Zoom on March 18th. We are continually adding to our calendar of virtual workshops as we explore new opportunities for our community.
- Lectures will also be conducted via Zoom and our first virtual lecture is scheduled for Tuesday, March 31st.
- Individual counseling by phone is available to our members and we are finding our members are taking advantage of this especially now that we have gone virtual.
- A new Virtual Program Calendar is up on our website and is updated regularly.
- Our Website has a new COVID-19 section which promotes our new virtual program calendar, welcoming of new members, and links to relevant resources that are updated daily.
We need your support now more than ever. Gilda’s Club NYC has provided free cancer support for 25 years to cancer patients and their families thanks to your generous support. We have postponed two important fundraising events this Spring expected to generate over $500,000 – critical funds needed to keep our program running by our team of professionals. Without continued funding, our ability to provide our program is at risk. While we understand that everyone today is faced with new challenges that can be very daunting, we ask, if you are able, to please continue to support our community, compromised by both cancer and the impact of COVID-19 virus in their everyday lives.
Please consider giving at this critical time to keep the Gilda’s Club Virtual Red Door open! A donation, of any amount, will make a difference. As always, we appreciate your commitment and support.
Stay safe and be well,
Lily Safani
CEO