Category: New Nominees

METAvivor exists to sustain hope for those living with stage 4 metastatic breast cancer (MBC). We are a volunteer-led, non-profit organization that funds vital research to help improve the longevity and quality of life for MBC patients. Passionately committed patients ourselves, we rally public attention to the urgent needs of the MBC community, help patients find strength through support and purpose, and make every dollar count as we work with researchers to extend and improve quality of life for MBC patients.

What We Do

Research
METAvivor is the only organization in the US that exclusively funds MBC research through a scientific peer-review process. We award research grants to individuals with a clinical or other doctoral degree who are actively engaged in areas of metastatic breast cancer research, and whose proposals show distinct promise in making a difference for the stage 4 breast cancer community.

Our mission is to transition metastatic breast cancer from a terminal diagnosis to a chronic, manageable disease with a decent quality of life.

Awareness
We bring attention to the specific issues of stage IV metastatic breast cancer, and raise public awareness about the facts of the disease. Each year, 200,000 Americans are diagnosed with breast cancer. Six to ten percent of these diagnoses are metastatic, or stage IV, and approximately another 30% of breast cancer patients develop metastatic breast cancer. Therefore, we believe that at least 30% of the funds given to breast cancer organizations should be dedicated to metastatic breast cancer.

Support
We know that a community of support is one of the most basic needs for anyone facing metastatic cancer. METAvivor began as a support group in Annapolis, Maryland, for local people living with metastatic breast cancer. Although we have evolved to focus primarily on public awareness and raising funds for metastatic breast cancer research, our original support program still remains intact as its own entity. We encourage people living with MBC to establish support programs in their own communities, and recommend taking our Peer-to-Peer Support Group leader webinar class.

Our Funding

METAvivor is led by a small staff and volunteers, most of whom are living with metastatic breast cancer. We work to obtain grants and corporate sponsors to support our operational expenses. This allows us to ensure that donations can be entirely dedicated to our research grants that fund the cutting edge research that will ultimately save lives. Unless otherwise specified by the donor, 100% of every donation and 100% of proceeds from every fundraiser (after event expenses) goes into our research grants.

Download our brochure to learn more about the important work that we do.

All Hands and Hearts has deployed assessment teams to the Northeast and is continuing to work with local communities to identify the areas of greatest need and how we may be able to best serve them. We are responding to the need in Louisiana by committing to a three month initial response program. We are currently accepting volunteer applications with an initial start date as early as Monday, September 13. If you or someone you know is interested, apply for our Hurricane Ida Relief Program.

Hurricane Ida devastated Louisiana as a category 4 hurricane on August 29, 2021 before continuing to leave a path of destruction through the eastern coast of the United States. On September 1, Ida slammed the northeastern United States with record breaking rainfall causing historic flood levels in New York and New Jersey.

Louisiana

Category 4 Hurricane Ida made landfall over the Port Fourchon community in Louisiana at about 11:55 am CT on August 29, 2021 – the 16th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. Ida was first observed as a tropical depression on August 26, after passing over Cuba as a category 1 hurricane, Ida underwent a rapid intensification, progressing to a category 4 hurricane by the time it made landfall in Louisiana. Communities in Louisiana saw tropical storm conditions as early as Saturday evening and were hit by Ida on late Sunday evening, August 29, and into the morning of August 30. Wind speeds exceeding 150 mph were sustained for a total of 6 hours, twice the duration of the 125 mph sustained winds of Hurricane Katrina. There are over 2 million people who live in the affected area, and as of Monday morning, over 1.06 million are reported without power and over 18,000 people had already filed for federal aid.

While the levee system that protects New Orleans held during the hurricane, multiple towns outside its protection saw catastrophic flooding and storm surge. Fallen trees and debris litter the streets across Ida’s path. Homes are missing parts of their roofs, fallen trees lie on homes and roads, and some of the most devastated areas are still flooded and remain impassable.

All Hands and Heart stationed their Disaster Assessment and Response Team (DART) in Beaumont, Texas on August 27 in preparation for the storm and has already started moving towards the impacted areas to assess the damage and response needs. Two teams headed towards New Orleans along two different routes to cover more ground and gain a better understanding of the damage done by Ida. One team went west through Laplace and found widespread damage while the other team went east of Baton Rouge and found downed trees and potential roofs that needed tarping. Now stationed in Mandeville, DART has boots on the ground and is assessing the needs in the area. They have connected with the New Orleans VOAD (Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster) to gain a better understanding of the needs in the communities and preliminary reports show that the parishes closest to the coast where the eyewall of Ida passed over were the hardest hit.

On September 2, additional members joined the team in New Orleans and deployed to the New Orleans metropolitan area to meet with partners and conduct initial assessments.

All Hands and Hearts is prioritizing the compounding risk of COVID-19 and is able to leverage its experience of running disaster relief programs throughout the pandemic. We will remain focused on supporting communities in need, both responsibly and safely.

Due to the five named storms that made landfall in Louisiana in 2020, All Hands and Hearts has another team prepared to rapidly respond to Hurricane Ida. The Hurricane Laura Team was pulled back to the safety of San Antonio, Texas, in preparation for the storm. Now that it is safe, the team has returned to Dequincy and is prepared to provide any additional resources necessary to further respond to Ida.

On multiple fronts, we are prepared to respond immediately to Hurricane Ida and launch a program of volunteers and staff to support the impacts. We anticipate the initial need to include chainsaw work, roof tarping, mucking and gutting, and mold sanitizing.

Since Hurricane Katrina in 2005, All Hands and Hearts has responded to 4 major disasters in Louisiana, including our current response and recovery efforts in the aftermath of Hurricanes Laura and Delta that hit Southeast Louisiana just one year ago.

Give your support to the communities affected by Hurricane Ida and either make a donation or apply to be a volunteer. For the most up-to-date information follow our Hurricane Ida Tracker.

Northeast Impacts

Ida passed over the northeastern United States the evening of September 1, causing destructive tornadoes and historic levels of rainfall in areas which were already saturated by Hurricane Henri in late-August. In New York City, most city subway lines were suspended due to the flooding, and both New York and New Jersey declared a state of emergency. The rain was so extensive that for many parts of New York City, it is the first time in history that there has ever been a flash flood emergency warning.

We have an assessment team based in New York remotely assessing the situation as more information becomes available. As soon as it is safe to do so, we will be sending the team in to gather more information and connect with partners and the media.

Our Mission
Arms Wide Open Childhood Cancer Foundation’s mission is to fund less toxic therapies for children with cancer so they can have a better quality of life as they battle the disease and to give families hope by bridging the funding gap and making available potentially life-saving clinical trials that would otherwise not be available.
Through its many programs, Arms Wide Open also helps families throughout the United States both financially and emotionally who are suffering hardship due to their child’s diagnosis of cancer, providing them with support during the most difficult time of their lives. Arms Wide Open supports families from diagnosis to sadly, sometimes their child’s death, and beyond.
Through our Emmy-Award winning documentaries and awareness campaign, The Truth 365, we are committed to educating the general public on the truth about childhood cancer, raising awareness on a global level, uniting the childhood cancer community, starting a movement through CureFest, and giving children with cancer a voice so that they will see change in their lifetime.