Celebrating Our New Families and Volunteers

We are excited to share that we launched our first 5-week Pickles Empower program cohorts in October thanks to the generosity and support of the Pickles Community and individuals like you.

1st-4th and 5th-8th graders experiencing a parent, guardian, or caregiver's cancer from Chicago's North Shore attend meetings each week after school. The groups are facilitated by skilled and trained volunteers, all of whom have at least one year of experience working with kids. Our volunteers this fall have a wealth of relevant expertise— studying or working in child life, education, and social work.

In the first two weeks, our Pickles kids and volunteers participated in activities to build new connections and friendships. They talked about their lived experiences and interests to help develop a sense of belonging, learned fun Pickles Group traditions, shared about themselves and their families, and most importantly - had fun!

The next few weeks will include volunteer-led art and play-based activities that focus on learning about illness in a developmentally appropriate way, processing feelings, and identifying hope and gratitude for the future.

We’re already planning family and peer events for new and existing Pickles kids and teens in December and January, and then into the spring. You can read more about our Pickles Empower, Kindle, and Connect programs here.

If you know a Chicago-area family that can benefit, please encourage them to complete an interest form to learn more about our Pickles programs and resources for kids and teens with a parent, guardian, or caregiver who has cancer. We’d love to see them at an upcoming event!

We're grateful for the opportunity to continue to support more families while we celebrate our new families and volunteers - welcome to the Pickles community!

Kelsey Mora, Chief Clinical Program Officer