Personal Contribution
My goal was to interact directly with patients and their families this summer. Unfortunately, I was not told the entire truth about what I would be doing this summer when I asked before accepting this internship. TTF had done a pilot program in the spring at Massey Cancer Center, and (I guess) thought they would be established within the hospital this summer. They are still waiting to hear back… which is extremely disappointing and has been a really hard thing to come to terms with, given working with patients was the reason I chose this internship in comparison to other offers. Having said this, I hope to have worked with patients at some point this summer, although I think it is unlikely. I want to be able to directly help them, as a cancer strategist at TTF would. This would include accessing any resources they may need (transportation, legal services, financial, etc), attending appointments, and any other form of support the patient may need.
In the meantime, I have been working on a few other projects. I have created a fundraiser at Citizen Burger that will be a profit share, include a raffle, selling merchandise, and passing out newsletters and brochures to help spread the word about TTF and what its mission is. I have had to talk directly with the manager at CB, find raffle prizes (calling/speaking to other restaurants and places like the Byrd to donate gift cards), create flyers for the event, manage the social media presence for the event, including a Facebook fundraiser, and other tasks that come with putting on a large fundraiser.
Additionally, I have reached out to cancer support groups, wellness retreats, and numbers other groups/parishes to spread the word about TTF. More specifically, this includes providing the group leader with TTF brochures to distribute at their meetings, scheduling times for the future when TTF can come in and present about who we are and what we do, and unfortunately, searching for groups that are willing to let us come in to speak (most contacts do not respond, so it is a lot of reaching out and hoping!).
I have also been working on a newsletter for TTF on the side, something they can use at events and be able to distribute when they speak to patients. Ideally it will highlight exactly what TTF does and its impact, making it an easy, relatable source of information patients and community members can use.
I’m sorry to hear that the experience is not really meeting your expectations; I know you were excited about patient contact. However, it sounds as though you’ve been quite productive setting up this fundraiser and have had the opportunity to really develop and coordinate the whole event. Asking for donations (e.g. for a raffle) is always tough, as is trying to get organizations to sign on for visits, training, etc. I hope you can get a few who will let TTF into they organization so you can share the mission.