Treating the Whole Child & the Whole Family
Friends of Kids with Cancer has a proud history of helping children with a cancer diagnosis in St. Louis for over 30 years. Jill Turec, Developmental Specialist at Mercy Clinic Children’s Cancer and Hematology Center, along with concerned parents, Molly Henry and Susie Snowden, saw the great need to enrich the daily lives and divert the attention of children in treatment. These three women shared a dream that every child with cancer would experience as much fun, laughter, support, and normalcy as possible. It was this idea that was the birth of Friends of Kids with Cancer.
For over 30 years Friends has been driven to meet the ever-evolving needs of not only the patients but their entire family. Every aspect of support Friends provides is proposed by medical professionals and patient families. Starting in the office of Dr. Bob Bergamini, local Pediatric Hematologist-Oncologist, in 1992, Friends adopted his philosophy: treat the needs of the entire child, not only the cancer.
The Power of Think, Feel, Smile
Friends of Kids with Cancer helps cultivate mental well-being with Educational, Emotional, and Recreational programs that help children, and their families, cope with the daily challenges they face. Families are supported with specialized Think, Feel, Smile programming to suit the needs of each member in order to retain a sense of normalcy and maintain childhood.
Friends provides educational programs like tutoring to help patients and siblings with learning difficulties due to chemotherapy or medical visits that remove them from the classroom.
Emotional programming provides mental health resources like support groups, counseling, and expressive therapies, to help patients, siblings, and parents express their feelings in this challenging time.
Curating opportunities that allow kids and families to feel care-free is the core of Recreational programs, which provide special toys, activities, specialized gifts, parties, and experiences.
