B I G LOVE CANCER CARE SERVICES
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Mission Statement
B.I.G. Love Cancer Care was established in February of 2007 in memory of Brooke A. Phillips with one primary focus—easing the childhood cancer journey. B.I.G. Love Cancer Care’s core mission is to meet the most basic and urgent physical, emotional, and financial needs of pediatric oncology and hematology patients and their families at 6 Texas hospitals.
About This Cause
Each year in Texas, more than 3,680 families will hear the words, “your child has cancer.” By serving as a community partner with Texas Children’s Hospital, MD Anderson Children’s Cancer Hospital, Dell Children’s Medical Center, and Methodist Children's Hospital, we are able to provide basic necessities and personalized care for thousands of families each year. At Texas Children’s Hospital alone, the largest pediatric cancer and hematology center in the United States, 91,700 patients are seen annually through their outpatient clinic, and over 30,000 are enrolled in their long-term survivorship program. B.I.G. Love has been honored to serve patients and families at Texas Children’s Hospital over the last 12 years and to IMPACT the cancer community in a tangible way! When a child has cancer, the emotional, physical, and financial strain can devastate a family. Many cancer families travel long distances to receive quality and excellent cancer treatment. After a child is diagnosed with cancer, he or she can remain hospitalized for months and even years. Because of the high cost of parking at the hospitals, most families are reluctant or unable to leave the hospital to run basic errands to attain essential supplies. They can be bound to the hospital room for long periods of time, become separated from other family members, and isolated from the outside world. Patients, caregivers and siblings will experience immense strain, anxiety, fear, and uncertainty of the future. • Most families become financially burdened due to healthcare and medical expenses. More than half of families served by B.I.G. Love are on Medicaid • Often families are forced to live apart in order to maintain employment, and alternate housing is often needed. Second and third jobs are sometimes required. • Travel expenses such as parking and gas become a burden as well as daily meals for caregivers and siblings. The purpose of B.I.G. Love Cancer Care is to help ease the overwhelming physical, emotional and financial burden of cancer and offer a measure of strength, hope and love to patients and their families. BIG Love currently serves families at SIX Texas hospitals. Programming includes: Weekly Wish List Program - provides all children, teenagers and their caregivers the opportunity to request on a weekly basis special grocery or comfort items that they might desire such as: detergent, toiletries, toys, blankets, socks, special snacks, or books. At the beginning of each week, a wish list with a $25 budget is given to each cancer family. After acquiring the lists, a B.I.G. Love volunteer shops for all the cancer patients and their families and delivers the requested items to the child’s room before weeks end. Over 2,600 wishes are fulfilled each year! Jeremy’s New Diagnosis Bags/Baskets - Because most new cancer families arrive on the cancer unit after long hours in the emergency room, they are most often ill-prepared for a long hospital stay. Due to this need, B.I.G. Love provides New Diagnosis Bags to each new cancer family. Bags include basic toiletries in addition to items personally requested by patients. Over 300 are distributed each year. Miles of Smiles Holiday Gift Basket Program - B.I.G. Love delivers gift baskets and/or other special gifts on Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, and Father’s Day. Baskets include: blankets, toiletries, toys, snacks, drinks, a $25 Gift Card and many other goodies. Over 400 baskets are distributed each year. Holiday Joy - B.I.G. Love delivers various gifts, gift cards, catered meals, desserts and special surprises for all holidays. BIG Love also grants special wishes at Christmas time. Cancer Clinic Toy Closet - After any procedure, chemo, transfusion or poke, cancer kids get to take a trip to the B.I.G. Love Toy Closet and pick a surprise. Over 22,000 toys are given away each year. TCH Hospitality Cart and Toys - B.I.G. Love brings a hospitality cart to cancer unit each week. The cart includes small toys like match box cars, new stuffed animals, puzzles, colors, markers, coloring books, baby toys, movies, iTunes cards as well as pajama’s, socks, house shoes, and toiletries. Family Kitchen Supplies – Each week, BLCC delivers food and drinks to restock the family kitchen on the cancer unit and clinic. Over 35,000 daily meals, snacks and drinks given away each year. Angels for Aidan Comfort Cart – The Comfort Cart is provided to families whose child is inpatient with a terminal prognosis at TCH (West and Main) and DCMC. This cart is filled with items that we hope would provide comfort to families during this very difficult and stressful time such as: snacks, sheet sets, a coffee maker and coffee, CD player, aromatherapy oils and other useful items. Over 100 families receive this service each year. Staff Appreciation and Support - Our cancer doctors and nurses are very important to us. We want to take every opportunity to thank them for the love and compassion they show our families. Throughout the year, B.I.G. Love provides something a little special for them like: snacks, cookies, homemade gifts, catered meals, etc. B.I.G. Love also provides special meals and gifts for Nurse Appreciation Week. Grief Support Services - BLCC provides individual/group grief support services as well as resources for bereaved families. Scholarships – B.I.G. Love currently offers five scholarships, 3 general and 2 for nursing. Scholarships are available to survivors, siblings, or even parents pursuing degrees. The L.I.F.T. Program - The L.I.F.T. (Love in Fragile Times) program serves patients and families in crisis by meeting a need to reduce their stress or lift their spirits. Requests are meant for patients experiencing a crisis affecting home life, living situations, relapse in disease, and end of life support (three to five requests are granted each month).