Appreciation Archives
Through voice messages, written notes and thank you cards, JAJF families express gratitude for their once-in-a-lifetime WOW! Experiences. Their words, voices and messages serve to honor the foundation for the memories its families have been able to create and cherish.
This is the JAJF impact.
Voice Messages
CLICK on the family's name to hear voice messages of gratitude from some of the families we've "Treated"
Written Notes
Dear Heidi,
My family and I would like to thank you for the wonderful vacation that the Jack and Jill Foundation provided for us.OurWoW experience in Atlanta was Wowsome from start to finish! There is no way to say thank you enough to you and all of the contributors and companies, who so generously gave to make this a trip of a lifetime for us.
A very special thank you to AirTran Airlines for their exceptional and friendly service. They were so accommodating to my mobility issues and just couldn't have been any nicer. Kaity was thrilled with her first experience flying!
The Ritz-Carlton was simply amazing! We were treated like celebrities, with first class service. It was far beyond our expectations. Our driver Wallace and the other drivers were friendly, caring, knowledgeable about Atlanta and excellent, safe drivers. Our Concierges Kasey & Kerri were so helpful and committed to see that we had everything we needed or desired. We just can not say thank you enough to all of the Ritz-Carlton employees for making our stay so awesome. Everyone we came in contact with, exemplified Southern Hospitality to it's finest. The food was beyond delicious and presented so beautifully. We truly appreciate everything the Ritz-Carlton did to insure our stay with them was so special.
Our day spent at the Georgia Aquarium was beyond words! What an amazing facility! Gorgeous from floor to ceiling with the amazing displays of aquatic life. Our behind the scenes tour was just great! The volunteers leading the tour were friendly and knowledgeable about every inch of the Aquarium. WOW! our Journey with the Gentle Giants continues to leave us speechless! Everyone involved with planning and implementing our swim with the Whale Sharks were amazing! To see and be in the water with these enormous creatures is simply beyond words. We can not thank everyone enough for their kindness. Our day at the aquarium will always be remembered with many WOW moments and memories.
Six Flags over Georgia was outstanding! Our VIP tour guide Becky, was incredible! She made sure we had everything we needed and got to see all we wanted. It was a very hot day and Becky was very vigilant about keeping us hydrated and as comfortable in the heat as possible. We truly can not thank her enough for helping make our Six Flags experience more than we could have ever even imagined. The rides, the food, photos and the Meet & Greet with Tweety, made this one of our best days ever!
It is difficult to find adequate words to express our sincere appreciation for our trip to Atlanta. This experience through the Jack and Jill Late Stage Cancer Foundation provided an opportunity for our family to create memories that will last for a lifetime. It was a true blessing for us, not to think/worry, or even utter the "C" word while we were being treated to our many WOWSOME experiences.We have learned through this cancer battle, never to take even a moment for granted. Life is to be lived to it's fullest, show appreciation for what we have been given and to cherrish every memory made. Thank you all again for the wonderful Atlanta memories.
With Or Sincere Thanks and Appreciation,
The Struckman Family
Hello Heidi,
Thank you to the Jack and Jill Foundation.....WOW - what an experience. My husband has stage 4 cancer and our family of 5 were sponsored for a trip. We choose New York - and let me tell you - because of the Jack and Jill Foundation we have wonderful memories.
We arrived Thursday night and met at the airport and then driven to our hotel. The hotel was absolutely beautiful. Plenty of room for the 5 of us. On Friday we went on a city tour - which we thoroughly enjoyed. On Saturday we were able to see The Lion King with a backstage tour. That evening we went on a light harbor cruise.
We were able to enjoy being with each other in a wonderful city. The memories will be with each of us forever. The kids especially will always have wonderful loving memories of spending time in New York with their dad. They will never forget this trip. We have truly been blessed. Thank you for making this dream a reality. Due to our current situation we could have never been able to do this on our own. Also, to get the kids away from the everyday stress of cancer. It is always in their face - this was a wonderful break that they needed.
Thank you for all your hard work...thank you to all that make this possible!!! This organization is truly a wonderful organization.
Thank you,
The Nickel Family
Hi Heidi,
I cannot thank you enough for everything you did in planning our family trip to DC!! I also want to thank any companies involved with in-kind donations on our behalf – specifically the W Hotel in Washington, Southwest Airlines, and Open Top Sightseeing.
Words cannot describe how wonderful we were treated at the W Hotel. We were provided with an AMAZING suite next to the White House and Treasury buildings. Our girls were thrilled to have their very own adjacent room. Our oldest daughter, who is 8, especially loved walking around the room in her very own hotel room robe. Our family has traveled a bit and stayed in some pretty decent hotels. None, however, were on the scale of the W Hotel. It was especially meaningful because, although I am an attorney, I am applying for Social Security Disability because I am presently unable to work. Thus, fancy trips like this are not otherwise available to us as we will be experiencing a downturn in income. Our spacious accommodations at the W allowed us plenty of space to rest from our daily sightseeing excursions. We completely and totally exhausted ourselves every day.
We would also like to thank all involved in making our arrangements for the White House and Capitol tours. We all agreed that the White House tour was our favorite of all.
The last night of our trip, Geoff and I hired a babysitter for some adult time in the Rooftop Terrace, where kids were not allowed in the evening. It was completely amazing up there! We saw the White House all lit up at night, as well as the Washington and Jefferson Monuments. That was very special. We were provided our own window seats and complimentary binoculars to enjoy the view. Geoff and I felt like royalty! Although we were supposed to pay for our alcoholic beverages that we enjoyed that night, the hotel refused to take our money. I was shocked and impressed by the generosity of the W Hotel, in particular, as well as their staff. We enjoyed wonderful meals at the W Hotel and our daughters noted that their hot chocolates were the best that they had ever had!
I have forwarded the camera back to you and we are excited to see our pictures when developed.
Again, I don’t even feel that my words express our gratitude. What special experiences the Jack and Jill Late Stage Cancer Foundation provides! I am spreading the word to other survivors and doctors in order to help others benefit from the exciting work that you do.
Thanks again! I will probably call you soon to leave a voicemail as well.
Sofie
Dear Friends,
Words can not describe how thankful we all are for the trip that was provided for our family! We continue to feel overwhelmed with gratitude to the Jack and Jill Foundation for so lavishly giving to us. It was more than we ever could have dreamed or expected! From the beautiful gift basket with goodies for everyone that was waiting for us in our amazing rooms, to the nightly chocolate surprises that would meet us in our room after dinner, everything about The Wild Horse Pass Resort & Spa was exceptional! We felt very welcomed and comfortable and were amazed at how many people took the time to remember our names and ask about our stay, offering to be of help in any way possible.
One day in the upstairs gift shop, I enjoyed meeting the lady who put together the beautiful and surprising gift basket for our family. All of the treats were perfect! I love the Indigenous lotions and scrub. Just smelling it reminds me of so many good memories. Karis has slept with her Wild Horse Horse ever since she got him!
Sonya Youngblood did an amazing job coordinating everything! She saw to it that all of her staff went way beyond anything normal and served us to the max! Shane, the Aji manager, arranged for a surprise visit from Karlos Dansby (Outside Linebacker for the Arizona Cardinals) for lunch. That might have been my favorite part--watching Nathan and Jonas realize that Mr. Dansby was there to eat with us! That will be sure to be the topic of conversation at the next high school football practice! Mr. Dansby gave us a generous gift of his time and compassion that day, and is a very sincere person.
Hannah and Karis were tickled pink (just like the color they chose for the paint on their toes) with their time in the spa--we all got the royal treatment in the salon and Karis thrived on the idea of being the object of pampering! During the same afternoon, Chad and Nathan and Jonas enjoyed the beauty and fun of Whirlwinds Golf course. And, while the Kelly boys aren't real golfers, they soon learned why so many love the game--not the mention the fun they had making fun of one another's pitiful shots!
Rawhide was entertaining, as well as a culinary adventure for my boys. I can't think of anyplace in North Georgia where they could sample Rocky Mountain Oysters and Rattlesnake at the same meal! It was very kind of the manager, Jim, to check on our meals and express support and encouragement, having walked through cancer with his own wife. We survivors kind of have our own club! 
Robin greeted us our first meal at the Ko'Sin Restaurant making sure we were comfortable. He asked about our stay almost daily. Greg, the Ko'Sin manager, always made sure we had more than enough attention, food, and treats! The servers at the Ko'Sin Restaurant made sure that we had enjoyable, relaxed meals every time we were there--Robin, Rudy, Taryn, Glen and Chris. Chris even emailed us the directions to make our own "Cherry Fizz!" and a photo of one of our desserts. We never met the chefs, but OH MY! What art they are able to make out of food! The extra thought and effort that was put into the making of the amazing dessert sampler garnished with a pink ribbon symbol was especially meaningful (not to mention a treat to eat!). The treats that were prepared in such a detailed fashion and left in our rooms while we were at dinner amazed my children (and their parents too!). Two BEAUTIFUL desert scenes made from my favorite food (chocolate!) were exciting to find and amazing to look at as well. Ask anyone of my friends and they will tell you that I LOVE to eat!
The highlight of the trip for most of us was probably the Grand Canyon! What an amazing experience--all orchestrated by the wonderful people at Wild Horse Pass! The "Detours" tour was super and full of information--thanks to Todd Weber's 40 plus years of living in Arizona, as well as his passion for nature and people. Tell the kitchen staff that the snacks and meals they provided made everyone on the trip jealous!
One or two of the kids had never been on a horse before and Kimmy, along with her assistant, a young Native American man named Nathan, was a wonderful teacher and guide. She explained the desert life to us and showed us many things. Hannah said that she enjoyed that more than she thought she would and maybe would like to do more with horses in the future. That was something different for her.
My youngest wanted me to be sure to thank the housekeeping staff for the special care they took with her "babies" while making the beds for us. She was delighted to walk into the room one day to find that they were neatly lined up in a row, propped on the pillows with her blanket neatly folded at their feet. That meant a lot to her and shows a heart of love.
There are so many to thank and our hearts are so full that I am afraid I might leave something out of this letter. We are so blessed with wonderfull memories that will last a lifetime. That is a priceless gift that we have been given by so many this past weekend. We are truly grateful. We have come away from the trip with a greater appreciation of God's grace because of you all--unearned, undeserved, lavish and extravagant favor, free for our enjoyment because of a great price paid! The cost was great for our time at Wild Horse Pass--time, energy, service, thought and resources; and the cost was greater still for God's own Son, Jesus Christ, as He gave His life that we might be free to know God as our Father! Once again, thank you all!
With much appreciation and gratitude,
The Kelly Family--
Dear Heidi,
My family would like to thank you from the bottom of our hearts for the wonderful vacation that the Jack and Jill Foundation provided for us. I cannot tell you how important this trip was to us. We had a wonderful time in Palm Beach. The weather was so amazing in Florida that we hated to come home.
AirTran was amazing. Thank you to the staff and stewardesses who made it such a smooth flight. It was the boys' first time on a plane and they loved it.
I want to give a special thanks to the Ritz Carlton staff, especially to Jon and Liz, who spent so much time with the boys and went out of their way to make this trip as special as possible. They were truly amazing, even running out for mozzarella cheese sticks for Charlene when one of the restaurants didn't have them. We had a great time getting massages and the boys had a great time riding jet skis, taking surfing lessons, and playing on the beach. The food was wonderful and it really did wonders for Charlene; she has been eating French toast every day since we got home.
Once again, I can't tell you how much we appreciated this trip. Thank you to all who made this trip possible. We will never forget it. You will be a part of our treasured memories always.
With much thanks,
The Hood Family
Dear Kim and Bobbi,
Where do I begin. WOW!!! Greg and I and the kids want to wrap our arms around you two and thank you for such a fantastic trip. You know, I have never encountered such true love and kindness as was shown to our family. You two are just incredible. We are so deeply appreciative by your generosity, love, and kindness. My family will never forget what the Jack and Jill Late Stage Cancer Foundation and the Westin have done for us.
Bobbi, I know you and Heidi worked very hard on making our stay there an unforgettable one and I have to tell you that you accomplished that goal. I just can't believe all the stuff you and Heidi arranged for us. From the beginning to the end. You gave us alot of great memories, there are just too many to write about. I appreciate all of your time and energy that went into making this happen for us. My children haven't stopped talking about their experience at the Westin. They have told all their friends about the really cool things (with alot of bragging) they were able to do. They just loved the pool, the water sports were a big hit with Cam and of course, the jet ski ride was fantastic. They both say the best thing was the snorkeling! Bay hopping on a private yacht, too cool. Katie is in love with your resort. She keeps telling me "Mom, you know I was invited back to work over the summer with Ms. Bobbi." I have assured her when she is old enough, she can do just that. (I really think she means it.) She loves St. John and she loves the Westin. The kids will be back there, one day.
Kim, you are unbelievable! You have created an environment that would make the angels sing. Your love for this place shows in everything you do. Thank you for extending that love to our family. You have no idea how much you have touched our lives. I also want to thank you for the kindness you showed to Katie and Cam. They think you are awesome. Greg and I think so too. Please tell your staff that they are definitely the best in the world. Everyone we encountered there was sincere, happy, and always willing to assist in anything that was needed. It makes such a great difference. They should know that we really appreciated the hospitality shown by all of them. You should be very proud of your staff. We felt loved by all. Our stay there was like we were part of your family, the Westin family. What a wonderful feeling. It was great to see everyone, every day, with a smile on their face and ready to assist. Please tell your direct staff, Arnold and the other guys, we so enjoyed their company. What a great group of people to work with. I know it all starts at the top and from there works its way down. You and your staff are absolutely the best. I hope you are all recognized for the incredible job that you all do. This trip was the most unbelievable experience we have ever had. Thank you so much for making this our stay there the most memorable one we will ever have.
The biggest thing I want to tell you is to thank you for working with the Jack and Jill Late Stage Cancer Foundation. I know these kinds of trips are not possible without them and without you. The difference this trip has meant to our family is one that I really cannot put into words. I believe that by you looking into my eyes and saying goodbye when we departed your wonderful resort, you know how deeply appreciative and grateful I am for what you both have done for me and my family. I hope that one day we will see you all again. In the meantime, keep doing what you all do best, which is making people feel like they are the most important person at the Westin.
The Tanner Family loves you all! With much heartfelt thanks,
Greg, Betsy, Katie and Cam
May The Lord Bless you and Keep you. Amen.
Dear Jack &Jill Foundation,
We would like to thank you for the wonderful opportunity to have a vacation in Orlando, Florida.
So many feelings come to my mind that I would like to share with you. You do not know how much this trip has meant to us.
For the first time in many years we were able to stop the worries, frustration, and pain and sadness, so we were able to enjoy the wonders of Disney World and Sea World and we were able to relax, laugh, and remember that we are still a regular family, with dreams, and we are all together having fun, something that I think we have forgotten about for a long time. Thank you, thank you for allowed us to stop and to not thinking about chemo, and doctors and medications, thank you for giving us that time back. We did not realize until now, that we really needed so bad!!!
To Heidi, Thank you so much for all your work, for all the details you took care for us. I felt that you were with us in our trip!. For all that hard work, making sure you are coverage all the details, Thank you so very much!!!.
Let me explain a little bit about us. I came from a family with another culture, with different expectations, with many financial difficulties. I was not allowed to dream, Education after high School it was just only for rich people. My parents enroll me to become a secretary, has to be something fast so we can pay the bills. We have been “parents for our parents” so, we never expected anything, just whatever your work is allow to provide you, so you can image it to receive a gift like this, it is something so big, wonderful, it is a blessing. And we owe it all to you.
Tired not to have my own dreams, I came to USA to study English when I met my dear Husband Mike. I felt that we meant to be together since the first time, but also I felt I was trial by fire, because I did not have much chance to adjust to a different life. We did not have anything just the both of us. I remember going alone to get my wedding dress…oh well… After a few years, we decided to have family, the last 10 years has been a bumpy road… and I find out I was infertile.. What else? . Treatments comes and goes, finally Daniel came, about 4 months pregnant my Gall bladder decided to come too. More intensive treatments of insemination and invitro and in and out the hospital due to side effect for the drugs dissapointment, fears, lost, subsequently, Amanda was born premature, as my water broke at 23 weeks, which caused me to spend two more months in the hospital. And my dear Daniel has to be pass from house to house thru my friends. Thanks God to put them in our way!!!She was then born at 29 weeks, and spent an additional two months in the NICU. My husband has lost his job 3 times, in this period of time; one lasted 8 months until he found a job. As you can see, nothing have been easy for us, my mother in law died the same day I found out I had cancer…how long it took for the doctors to find out what was wrong with me? More than a year, I was ready to have back surgery; also they told me it was to much stress. My cancer was already staged 4, Mammogram? Yes I get one every year but because I had a reduce breast surgery (due to back problems), it was hard for the Doctors to identified…. a few more days….and I could not tell you my story, The Breast Cancer was already in my neck, but for the love of our family and for each other we keep trying and trying to go to the right path and to not to put so much in the faults.
My husband has been taking care of the kids and me, and our finances, job that I used to do. and sometimes you can not take care everything, he tried, but it is hard. With me, I spend most of the time laying in the bed because it is so painful or in the doctors office. There is no way to think of planning a vacation, less when financially has been a roller coaster for us. How to explain to the children why we can not take a vacation? We spend to much in medications and treatments and bills pile up. And we did not have any help. Friends, yes we have friends, they come and go, is not their fault I understand, it is very difficult to be close to somebody that is sick all the time, I do not blame them for that. On top of everything else my own mother died two years ago, and because of our financial problems I could not be present for her funeral. We also came close to losing our house.
Mike is very smart and he decided to go to school so we can increased our income, but with me in this situation, has not been able to finish it.
But we have accepted, It is God decision and nothing we can do just keep praying that the cure is going to be found. Believe me, there is not a day that I think how I am going to leave my children’s. How can I protect them?
I do not know how many times I cried seeing my kids laughing and jumping and joking during our vacation, How many times I said God Bless this Foundation for this wonderful time, thanks to them we are here all together please, no doubt for any moment that you are not doing the right thing God Bless you all for giving a brake for our life with cancer. Really, I really want to say Thank you, thank you so much, and is there anything I can help or do please let me know. My family deeply appreciated all the effort you put on this.
Please do not think that we want just to complain, we share this with you to better explain how much your gifts means to us. It was like a light in the tunnel for us, it gave us the opportunity to charge our batteries to keep with the fight of this cancer, cancer that not only I carry, but affects all my family. What you are doing is such a wonderful Gift.
Again, thank you for providing us with this break, because it has been the most beautiful gift we have ever received.
From all of our family, thank you so very much,
The Ownbies
To Heidi and the Jack and Jill Foundation.
I would like to thank you for this amazing breathtaking experience. My family and I would like to thank the wonderful people of the Beverly Wilshire for accommodating all our needs with transportation and wheelchairs and room and meals. Besides that, they were amazing because while we were having breakfast they came down and asked us how everything was and if we needed anything. I also would like to give a big thanks to Charles for setting up the ride in the Audi r8 v10 Spyder with Ryan. The ride with Ryan was the best car ride I have ever been in because when he shifted into gear I got pushed back in my chair and people were staring and taking pictures and even an eight year old was looking and pointing at me and Ryan and then her parents looked as we sped off with Ryan revving the engine. We would like to thank Daniel for picking us up at the airport, and taking us to the hotel. Also we would like to thank Tony our tour guide for taking amazing pictures of us, in amazing places and being very informative with a little humor ( Which is good because boring tour guides are the worst. ). We thank Danny for taking us from the hotel steps to the Universal Studios and helping us find our way. We also thank Alex for taking us, and our extra luggage from the Beverly Wilshire to Anaheim. But mostly, we all thank you guys so much for setting this up. Without you we would still be sitting here doing nothing.
Sincerely,
Austen Hauver (I’m 12)
To Heidi and the Jack and Jill Foundation.
As soon as we arrived at the airport in California, I noticed Daniel holding a sign with my family’s last name on it, and a limo waiting outside to take us to our hotel. Just that overwhelmed me. I wasn’t even aware at the time that where he was taking us was going to be spectacular. As soon as we pulled into the driveway at Beverly Wilshire people opened our car doors for us and even knew our names! It was pretty cool and everyone was really nice. Then when Charles brought us to our room I was in awe. I wasn’t expecting such a large and beautiful suite. Austen and I even got our own room with a mini fridge! I was extremely excited and surprised because I never imagined staying in a room like that. It’s most defiantly a trip that I will never forget. And the day trips that were set up for us were very fun. I loved the tour with Tony. He was great and really funny. And I had a great time at the wax museum with my family. Also, the day at Universal Studios was amazing. I got to tour the set of one of my favorite shows, Desperate Housewives! (I’ve been bragging to my friends, and they’re all jealous.)
Well I just want to say thank you to everybody who made this trip possible. It really means a lot to my family and me. We needed a family vacation and a break from the stress. We had a ton of fun and my mom was always smiling, so thank you! This was truly a time of our lives.
Sincerely,
Lizzie Hauver
To Heidi and the Jack and Jill Foundation
Cindy and I would like to tell the Jack and Jill Foundation how wonderful an organization it is. We had a trip of a lifetime! For a few days we all could forget about Cindy’s cancer and be happy.
The Beverly Wilshire is a beautiful hotel, but what made our stay there so wonderful was the staff. Everyone was so friendly and attentive. Every employee we met in the hotel would smile and say Hello or Good Morning, or Hi, How are you? Meals were wonderful, as again,
Every one was so friendly.
We would like to especially thank Charles Hawkins. He was always there for us, helpful and friendly. Please extend a warm Thank You to Katje Henke. She was so kind and knew all our names when we first arrived and was there to say goodbye. And a big thanks to all those who I have not mentioned by name.
The tours that Jack and Jill arranged were so wonderful, the guides and drivers were great. Lastly we would like commending the use of Southwest Airlines. They were right there with a wheelchair whenever Cindy arrived at the airports, and friendly as well.
Sincerely Yours
Peter and Cindy Hauver
My Journey to Disney World - Beginning to End
I would like to begin by thanking everyone who made not only my dream possible, but also my daughter, Genesis, as well. My heartfelt thanks goes to the Jack and Jill Foundation and their staff members, Disney World, AirTran Airlines, Carey Car Service, Mears Transportation Group, Lake Buena Vista Comfort Inn and their staff members.
I truly had a WOW experience! I felt like royalty and my daughter felt like a star. Everyone went out of their way to make us feel special. The fireworks at Epcot was absolutely awesome! I never saw such a beautiful firework display as I have witnessed at Disney. I actually cried. I felt like a kid myself.
This was a trip of a lifetime and we have memories that will last forever. The most important memory to me is seeing my daughter's eyes light up and the sound of her laughter. The look on her face was priceless. We had such a great time that I would do it all over again.
Thank you for making us feel the magic of Disney and for allowing me to be able to spend quality time with my daughter.
Thank you for making us feel the magic of Disney and for allowing me to be able to spend quality time with my daughter.
May God continue to bless the Jack and Jill Foundation and everyone that was involved in this endeavor.
Maria
Heidi, thank you so much for all the work you did to make it possible for us to be able to take this trip of a lifetime!!!!! It was more than we ever expected!!!!
We had a wonderful "vacation" from CANCER. We never mentioned cancer and because we live in a small town everyone is always concerned and asking us about Jay's condition etc... I didn't realize how draining it was to answer so many questions. Thank you and your wonderful foundation for that!!!
Everything else was a dream too... the hotel was absolutely gorgeous!! We had never in our lives stayed in such a fancy place and the view was breathtaking!!! The service was excellent!!! The restuarant the Solaris was wonderful the service was extraordinary and we tried many different dishes and enjoyed each one.
The Disney experience was top notched !!!!!!!!!! Everyone was so helpful and kind!!! Our girls will not forget any of this!!!!!!!!!! Just the airplane ride itself was a whole new experience for them we had many firsts... a fancy hotel, fancy restaurant, DISNEY experience, Mears for all the rides ( which was a wonderful break for me because I'm the one who drives all the time) just the wonderful smiles and many laughs that we had. We can't thank you all enough!!!! Without the help of the whole team of companies we wouldn't of had the Experience!!!!!!!!!!!!!!THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH!!!
With much appreciation and graditude,
the Bass Family
Dear JAJF
I would to thank you for providing a gift to your first "Vermont" family. The Potvin's were able to spend time at the Sheraton and enjoy a few days of fun, and togetherness before her passing. As written by one family member, "I know it was enjoyed by all and I feel it was an important step for Karlene in the process of saying good bye to her family." Again, I want to thank you for all that you do to help children cope with their parent's end stage of life and making it a positive memory for all of them.
Stephanie Fraser, MSW
Fletcher Allen Health Care Vermont Cancer Center
Heidi, I thank you so very much for our trip to New York. It was the best vacation I ever had! From driving to the park and fly, to the smooth airplane fight, the warm welcome by the General Manager at the Westin, to the scrumptious meals at Shula’s, the informative and relaxing Circle Line Cruise, the awesome life like wax figures at Madame Tussauds Museum, the “nearly perfect” Mary Poppins Broadway Show, and the “see it like a native” Gray Line Bus Tour of Manhattan. I feel like I truly experienced New York and “I Love New York.” Thank you for the wonderful memories shared with my family.
Mom
"I LOVE NEW YORK” and the Madame Tussauds Museum where I saw my favorite “Michael Jackson!” And, I heard my favorite song, Billy Jean. The hotel was beautiful and I enjoyed eating at the restaurant that had all my favorite, delicious foods.
Daughter (age 7)
Thanks for the trip to New York. It was a lot of fun especially Madame Tussauds and the Spongebob Squarepants 4D movie. Also the food at Shula’s was great! I loved the Mary Poppins Broadway Play as, it was “practically perfect” lol hahaha. New York is so cool and there’s so much to do there. It’s my favorite city in the US. Thanks again.
Daughter (age 14)
Thanks for the trip to New York it was great! It was the best trip I ever had. It was so great that I wish I could live there. The best part was when we went to Madame Tussauds and saw all the different celebrities and seeing Spongebob in 4D! Also seeing Mary Poppins on Broadway it was ‘Practically Perfect’ lol. So thanks so much for everything.
Daughter (age 15)
Heidi, thank you very much for NYC! Everything surpassed all our expectations. It was all perfect! After the year my family and I have had since my diagnosis, this was a very welcome diversion. My 3 daughters now want to move to NY (LOL). The Westin Hotel was great, from Shula’s steakhouse to all the personal service we received, it was awesome! Madame Tussauds, the Mary Poppins broadway show, the citywide bus tour and the harbor tour, everything was great. Our favorite family destination used to be Orlando. But now I can truly say, WE LOVE NEW YORK!!!
Dad
April 7, 2009
To all the companies that made this trip happen. The Jenkins family would like to thank all of you for an awesome trip to Sea World , The Disney Parks, Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom. We had a wonderful, great, fantastic and terrific time. It really meant an awful lot to us. This was an incredibly thoughtful thing all of you did and will be something that we will always remember. All of you are truly special people and it is not the thoughtful things you do that make you all so special, it is the caring, kindness and love behind your deeds. We really appreciate everything you have done. Thank you just does not seem to be enough to say for the lifetime of memories you helped us make. Thanks so much from the love of our hearts.
Sincerely,
Harold, Latrall,
Jarret & Jaden Jenkins
March 2, 2009
A. Russell True
White Stallion Ranch
9251 West Twin Peaks Road
Tucson, AZ 85743
Dear Mr. True,
On behalf of my entire family, we all want to thank you and your staff for the wonderful weekend we spent at your ranch. Our trip was especially enjoyable because it’s been nearly three years since we’ve been able to take a vacation, given my cancer treatment.
My daughters and husband really enjoyed the horseback riding. Kelly and Chrissie also had a lot of fun doing the cattle penning, despite being initially apprehensive. Before we left, the girls and I had the opportunity to groom several horses, including Scooter and Casey. I also appreciated the special arrangements that were made in scheduling my spa treatment. It was my first time receiving one and Susan made it a very calming, relaxing experience. Chrissie told me, “I’d give the ranch five stars out of a five-star rating. Can we go back on spring break??” I think this experience has gotten the girls very excited about horseback riding because they want to take lessons near our home.
We sincerely appreciate your generosity in making our visit a pleasurable weekend for us.
Sincerely,
Jill Meyer
Dear Heidi,
I want to thank your organization for all your effort for having provided for our family this wonderful Marriott vacation. We were received graciously by all of the staff. We received a wonderful welcome package and were delighted by the beautiful accommodations. My sister not only received a little bit or luxury, buther children felt pampered by the entire facility. They enjoyed the pool, the views, the concierge service and well as their all time high being able to order room service. Jordan had the biggest smile of all having always dreamed of being able to order room service.
I cannot express in words what this meant to Gabriela and her children. She smiled and laughed and was so happy to have had the opportunity to take this mini vacation. The Marriott's location allowed other family members to drop by and spend time with Gabriela.
It is through your wonderful organization that this was possible. I also want to acknowledge the staff at the Marriott who made our stay there special. Even the gupi Phin, who was sent by the staff, to kept the kids busy made them smile.
We were able to enjoy the marina and stroll by the park and walk around the park. The kids were able to enjoy the pool and swim and just be kids without any worries. We took many wonderful pictures to remember the getaway. Please express our gratutide to all of those who took part in planning this vacation.
Once again thank you for having provided us with the best gift ever a moment away from all of the other distractions of the cancer.
With deepest gratitude,
Gabriela Lopez (mom)
Hello Heidi,
I wanted to send you a big THANK YOU. The last two days have been absolutely incredible for the Morris family. So many times I will catch my kids looking at their Dad with a somber look of concern, especially the boys. It has been such a wonderful thing to see them and Tony smile and enjoying each other and the events you so graciously planned for us.
It is almost midnight and everyone is in bed. The boys, however, are not asleep. They are too excited. I can hear them talking. We all had such a wonderful time tonight. The Amy Grant and Vince Gill concert was beautiful and quaint. Tony loved how they talked about their family during the concert. And oh, what a treat... meeting Amy and Vince was something we will always remember. They were both so down-to-earth and hospitable. Sam (14) was so nervous he was sweating. Charlie (11) takes piano and could only talk about how he met "real musicians." Nikki loved Amy's version of "Jingle Bells." It was very up-beat
and fast...just like her. Everyone at the Fox was very helpful and friendly. John Huie and all those working with Amy Grant and Vince Gill made us all feel special. Amy Grant and Vince Gill were very generous and allowed us to choose souvenirs from the merchandise table. Nikki and I got T-shirts and a Christmas CD, the boys got Vince Gill guitar picks and Tony got a Vince Gill hat.
The Falcons game on Sunday was memorable on so many levels. One...the limo ride and Mike the driver were awesome. Mike was so helpful and caring. Two...the Falcons won!!! Three...being able to go on the sidelines was such a once in a lifetime treat for us all, and four...we had great seats and had a great meal in the Owner's Lounge. The boys and Tony have really enjoyed showing off their autographed Falcon's memorabilia. Absolutely everyone was kind and helpful to us.
We do not get out much lately and and I guess cancer and chemo treatments consume our daily lives. I believe I must have forgotten how kind and caring people can be, but that is what I will remember most about all of this.
Please thank all who were involved in making this happen for my family. We made memories that will never be forgotten and spent some wonderful time together.
And thank you for being so diligent putting all the pieces together.
Be Blessed and Have a Merry Christmas,
Bonnie
December 7, 2008
To everyone involved in the Eberhardt WOW Experience,
WOW! Where to begin, they definitely call it a WOW Experience for a reason! We had a trip of a lifetime and we all were very spoiled when returning back to GA after living like royalty for 5 days in LA.
First, we’d like to thank Jill, the social worker, at NEGA Cancer Center for thinking of us for this opportunity. She then connected us with Heidi Cohen who brought the whole story together from parking to flights to hotel to adventures, etc. There were many nights she would call us, way after working hours, putting together last minute details for our trip. We really felt she was committed and had a huge passion for making memorable moments for patients and their families.
We first arrived at the Park ‘N Fly Plus in Atlanta who gave us 10 days of complimentary parking, which was fabulous and made traveling in a large group much easier! Thank you so much Park ‘N Fly for your generous donation.
Next we arrived at the ATL airport to take our flight to LAX, which was completely donated by Airtran Airways. Airtran was the top of our list for travel to and from MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, TX, before the trip and this make us love Airtran that much more. Airtran, thank you for your support in getting us to our vacation and back again!
Next we arrived at LAX with a personal driver, sent by the Westin, to take us to the hotel and help with our luggage. When we arrived at the Westin LAX, we were welcomed with 10-15 of the kindest faces you’ve ever seen. Little did we know we would consider all of them friends by the end of our trip. A few of the staff helped us to our room. We kept going up and up on the elevator, and finally we stopped at the top floor. You know usually the top floor has the best suites, but who knew we would be in Presidential Suite for a 4 night stay! Emily and Addison had their own room which means so did mom and dad. How great! There were beautiful balloons everywhere and snacks for us after a long journey. After settling in Doug and I were instructed to go to the spa a for a 1 hour massage that was fit for a star! We really needed this and it started our vacation out just right! Emily and Addison enjoyed free time swimming with Mama T and Aunt K.K.(our helpers, who we can’t thank enough either). Upon returning we enjoyed a candlelight formal private dinner in our suite. None of us had ever experienced a meal quite like this. This was defiantly Melisa’s favorite. We were served Dom Pirignon champagne, chardonnay, and red wine throughout the meal at certain times. This was the best food we had ever eaten and I believe the chef and restaurant enjoyed the excitement as much as we did. After a splendid meal, we met the chef behind it all and had pictures. After a long day we called it a night and prepared for the adventures of the day to come.
On Wednesday, we had complimentary breakfast at the Westin’s restaurant and started the day with Natalie Del Real and Daniela Stiles as a our personal guides around LA. The Westin supplied us with a van to take us on the tour. We started with a personal tour of the Paramount Studios were we saw a real TV show being filmed and learned all kinds of secrets about film making, which Doug really loved and found quite interesting. Addison loved getting to ride around in golf cart. Thank you Paramount Studios for letting us come behind your scenes, it was fantastic!
Next we were taken to the famous Chinese Theatre where we took pictures with several movie characters, checked out the famous handprints, and walked the Walk of Stars down Hollywood Blvd. And the best surprise was our own concrete handprint to take back home from Hollywood. We then went to the Kodak Theatre, home of the Oscars, where we walked the walk of glory like all the Oscar winners. Our personal tour included the private lounge and standing on stage where many stars have stood, how great. Thank you Kodak Theatre for a memorable tour and lots to think about when seeing the Oscars on TV!
At the conclusion of our tour, we were greeted by 4 Laker cheerleaders and the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce. Emily loves cheering and was quite surprised to meet professional cheerleaders. Thank you girls, for taking time out of your busy schedules to give Doug something really fun to smile about and share with his friends. The girls were so compassionate and reached out to Emily by giving her their email addresses to contact them if she ever needs to just talk. All of us got autographed pictures.
One of the most touching moments of our trip was when our family was presented a Hollywood Star that is identical and painted by the same artist that creates them for the real stars of Hollywood. Thank you Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, this one is defiantly going on our memory wall at home!
Next we had lunch with Laker Cheerleaders at the California Pizza Kitchen off of Hollywood Blvd. The girls were given aprons and got to make there on pizza. We had the best seat in the house with the view of the Hollywood sign in the distance. We felt the love and had very full tummies! Thank you CPK for a lunch and dessert to remember.
Shopping at the Grove was to follow. The girls were each given $50 gift cards compliments of the Grove. We were all treated with the first trolley ride of the year and a personal touch from Santa Clause with several 5x7 photos and video of Addison’s experience. The Grove, thank you so much for sharing the Christmas cheer with our family. Hopefully Addison will get the makeup she asked for from Santa.
Next we headed for the Westin in downtown LA to freshen up for the first ever Live Grammy Nomination Concert hosted by Taylor Swift (Emily’s favorite) and LL Cool J. We then heard, Mariah Carey, John Mayer (Emily’s favorite) and BB King (Doug’s personal favorite), Celine Dion (who Melisa has always want to see), Foo Fighters, and Christina Aguilera. Little did Emily know that the Jonas Brothers would be receiving a nomination and were present. Sparks were flying when she realized they were only a short distance away. All of us really enjoyed the 1 hour performance by John Mayer. Thank you so much Nokia Theatre for access and the privilege of hearing some great performers. We ended our evening, being picked up by the Westin’s town car and room service compliments of the Westin. Emily loved that she could stretch her legs so far in the town car.
On Thursday, we enjoyed breakfast compliments of the Westin at the restaurant and a fun filled day at Universal Studios where Addison got to see Dora and express with kisses that she was her biggest fan. We all enjoyed some spectacular rides, and especially enjoyed the studio tour. Melisa could hardly stay in her seat when Wisteria Lane passed by. Please let us say that the staff at Universal Studios were so helpful and kind whenever we needed help. Thank you Universal Studios for a splendid family day! Upon return a town car was sent to take us to the Santa Monica Pier to watch the sunset over the Pacific Ocean then dinner a the Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. Yum!
On Friday once again, we had breakfast at the Westin compliments of the Westin and we were surprised to be greeted with a stretch limousine to take all of us to Disneyland for the day. Emily especially would like to express that she loved this and could get use to it very easily. But before leaving for Disney we gathered the team at the Westin LAX, so we could have a photo of all of you who went out of your way to make us feel at home. We did not come across a single team member who didn’t seem to just love their job and always have a bright smile on their face. Melisa’s great aunt and uncle, Pam and Keith, made our trip to Disney possible. Addison loved Minnie and all the princesses while Emily enjoyed some scary rides. The limousine returned to pick us up and return us to the Westin LAX. When returning to the hotel we had snacks once again and found personalized Christmas tree ornaments with memories from our trip, a signed autographed picture frame of all the members of our new family at the Westin LAX , memory card with all the photos taken by the hotel, and breakfast boxes to take on the plane for our return trip. We ended our day once again with room service compliments of the Westin.
Sadly on Saturday, it was time to leave our lives as stars to return home. But we were bringing back many memories and hands full of new friends. To our family at the Westin LAX, you have all touched our hearts in many different ways and gave us a vacation of a lifetime. We are planning to make a wall in our home of special memories with our trip to LA at the top of the list. Special thanks to Lakeithia Terry and Glenn Sampert at the Westin LAX, for their help planning through the Jack and Jill Foundation. Also we don’t want to forget Paul Gregory in coordinating our special dinner and all other meals and Alfredo Anguiano for giving us such a warm smile every morning and helping with last minute details. To Daniela Hiles and Natalie Del Real, every little detailed planned for our tour day did not go unnoticed and we could have not seen so much of LA in one day without you. I feel that my family truly bonded with you both. And we can’t forget the great service and smiles in the transportation/concierge department and restaurant with too many wonderful people to name. Hopefully we did not leave anyone out because no one went unnoticed. Thank you all again for being so compassionate in your caring and giving. We pray that you all can be touched like we have been during these trial and tribulations of our lives.
Heidi Cohen and the Jack & Jill Late Stage Cancer Foundation, Thank you again for bringing it all together like a perfect puzzle!
HOW BEAUTIFUL A DAY CAN BE, WHEN KINDNESS TOUCHES IT!
-George Elliston
With great appreciation,
Doug, Melisa, Emily, and Addison Eberhardt
January 5, 2009
Dear Heidi,
We wanted to send you and the sponsors of the Jack and Jill Late Stage Cancer Foundation a huge thank you for our WOW trip to Disney. Our lives have changed dramatically over the past year with Margie’s cancer diagnosis and the heavy demands of treatment and recuperation. Our children are very brave but this is the hardest time of their short lives. The trip to Disney was a break from all of the stress that cancer causes.
You were so helpful with choosing a trip and making arrangements to meet all of our family’s needs. Disney was the perfect choice for us; something we planned to do but had to delay due to cancer. The trip went smoothly from beginning to end. The people at Park and Fly were very helpful with our bags and parking the car. We checked in to the flight at their facility and were able to breeze through the airport. At the airport our 7 year-old daughter, Claire, met a Canadian girl that she has kept in touch with since returning to Atlanta. The Airtran flight was quick and easy and we were met at baggage claim by the limo service. The children were so excited to ride in the limo and drink a bottle of water on the way to the hotel. They felt very important.
When we arrived at Disney’s Swan Resort they checked us in and explained the accommodations. They then escorted us to a huge suite that was filled with goodies and souvenirs for the children. We felt like royalty. When we picked up our Disney passes they saw that Margie needed a wheelchair and gave us “front of the line” passes that allowed us to move quickly through all of the rides and attractions. We spent two days in the Magic Kingdom and one in Animal Kingdom. There were so many exciting things to do and we went all day long.
This trip was so important to our family’s psyche. We were able to enjoy four days of uninterrupted togetherness and fun that we will always remember. We have talked about it often since coming home and Claire suggested that we go back every three years. We hope to be healthy enough to be able to return again as a family someday. We have received much love and support from friends, family and the community during this difficult time in our lives. Even with the improvements of modern medicine cancer does very sad things to families. Thank you for focusing on helping families enjoy the time they have together.
We are sending copies of Always and Everywhere, a children’s book Laura Bowman, a dear friend of ours, wrote and illustrated for our family. It is a loving story about how the love and lessons of a parent live within us even when we can’t see them. We hope that you will distribute copies to families that might benefit. Thank you again for the mission of the Jack and Jill Foundation and all of your hard work.
Sincerely,
Chris and Margie LaSalle
Heidi,
We want to thank you and the Jack & Jill Foundation for the WONDERFUL experience that you created for us. From the time that we arrived at the Fox Theatre until the time we checked out of the Renaissance Hotel, it was truly magical.
Aly Brock and the Atlanta Ballet greeted us with open arms. Steven, the tour guide was incredibly informative and knew just what to say to get our 4 year old to understand the production she was about the see. He made her feel comfortable and brought out a sparkle in her eyes. The Nutcracker ballet was amazing and thoroughly enjoyed by all.
Once arriving at the hotel, we were greeted by Mr. Doug Klein. He, along with the rest of the staff, treated us like royalty. The rooms were fabulous. The cart sent up by Pat from the Grill at 590 restaurant, as well as the service received when we dined there, was perfect.
All in all, this was definitely a ʽmemory-makingʼ experience that we are incredibly thankful for.
Thank you again to you and the Foundation for allowing us to partake in the WOW! Experience of a lifetime. I am sure that Madison will remember this forever.
Sincerely,
The Barrow Family
Dear Heidi,
I would like to take the time to thank you for the amazing trip Courtney and I were sent on last week. Everyone that we came in contact with was above and beyond top notch. Everyone with Southwest Airlines was wonderful, and made sure that we had everything we needed. From the beginning of this trip to the end we were treated like royalty. It was great to get away from the hospital, doctors, cat scans needles and all of the rest that comes along with Cancer.
The Marriott Hollywood staff -- Bruce, Stephanie, and Dominique were awesome and made sure that we had all that we needed. The room was so big and luxurious. Courtney and I could hardly believe it. Every evening the staff left us some candy, or beautiful Christmas cookies. They made sure that we were able get pampered in the spa, and on the last night we found brand new hotel spa robes left on our beds with our names embroidered on each. Ours to take home!
I also would like to thank The A List Limo Corp. every driver was a delight to deal with. Joe picked us up from the airport, and didn't allow Courtney or myself to lift a finger. He got all of our suit cases, and made sure that we were comfortable for the ride. Joe also picked us up from the taping, and he mentioned that he sings. I told him I would like to hear him, and he sang the entire ride home. It was such a treat. He sang a lot of the oldies (Courtney and I both like the oldie). He sang Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole, and so many more.
Barry Orleans took us on the tour of LA, and he was so much fun. He has such a fun personality, and such a delight to talk to. He asked if there was anything in particular that we wanted to see, and made sure that we were able to do that. A couple of places we got out of the car, and he took pictures for us. We were so excited to get pictures in front of the HOLLYWOOD sign, and in front of the Beverly Hills sign. I know these pictures will be treasured for ever.
Henrik Zontag also drove us and was wonderful as well.
Another person that made this trip a memorable one was Rachel Wagner from Dick Clark Productions. She really took such good care of Courtney and I at the pre taping. She brought us in the green room, and arranged for us to meet Fergie, Natasha Bedingfield, and Jesse McCartney. They were all wonderful, and made us feel like they were just as excited to meet us as were were them. Natasha Bedingfield told us that she read all about Courtney and I and about our struggle with cancer. I was so touched that she took the time to read about who we are and what we have gone through. Very touching. Jesse McCarteny was adorable, and Courtney was excited that be brought her a CD, and autographed photo.
I hope that I didn't leave anyone out, because everyone was amazing.
These memories will be treasured for years and years.
Thank you again,
Alicia & Courtney
Dear Heidi,
We cannot fully express our sincere gratitude, or describe the full effects that our time in Fort Lauderdale provided all of us by the Jack & Jill Late Stage Cancer Foundation. We returned home strengthened emotionally, physically, spiritually, and with a heightened sense of fight. From the first phone conversation with Heidi, to our time at the Westin Beach Fort Lauderdale, Marlins game and Jungle Queen cruise, we felt such hope that there are still genuinely good and caring people that exist in this world. Never did we expect to receive such royal, luxurious, and special treatment by numerous people. We were happy and grateful to receive a hotel room and a view. But, what we received was much, much more than we could have ever imagined. All of the luxuries aside, it was the special care and concern from everyone and the lifelong memories that were created that we cherish the most.
At the Westin Beach in Fort Lauderdale, we would especially like to thank Diana for everything she organized with such great care and detail. General Manager, Amaury Piedra was extremely welcoming and generous to us. He gave us his personal attention and made sure that we had an amazing stay. We are so grateful to him for that. The following people went above and beyond so that we had the best time of our lives: Jorge Madrigal, Hotel Manager, Enrique Irizarry, Front Desk Manager, Adam Elmrabti, Director of Food and Beverage (we’ll miss you, Adam!), Andres’, Sous Chef, Robert Pisco (the special help he gave us), Verena Koelbl, Front Desk Manager, and finally Otto Rivzani, Concierge (with whom we are truly grateful). Our worry is that we may have missed someone and, if so, we do apologize. From the maid service, bellmen to the management of the Westin Hotel, we couldn’t have been happier. They helped our family create memories for our children that will last a lifetime. Please also extend our thanks to Michelle and Mary at Waves who made us feel comfortable and welcome every day of our stay. And, we can’t forget Beth, the superior waitress at Shula’s! We will miss you all!
The Marlins organization provided an unbelievable night for us. From the moment we met Boris Menier, Marketing Coordinator, we were treated like royalty. He made our night so memorable and the whole experience was very emotional (batting practice, sitting in the dugout, John receiving a signed game bat, meeting players, and sitting behind home plate to watch a grand slam by Hanley Ramirez). We are all still so excited about that night! It was so amazing for us to watch the sheer joy on our children’s faces when they met the players. This respite from the stressful days of living with cancer in the family was appreciated more than words can possibly say. It was a dream to take us out of our daily environment to experience everything behind the scenes at the Land Shark Stadium. For this opportunity, we are eternally grateful to all of the players, managers and, especially, Boris. We also want to personally thank Brett Carroll, for taking the time away from batting practice to not only take a picture but to chat a bit with us. Our son especially appreciated his generosity. The time at the game will never, ever be forgotten.
The last night we spent on board the Jungle Queen ferry enjoying a relaxing ride up the river. We were provided with the best seats on board and had the time of our life that night. The dinner, tour and island were fabulous. The island we visited had the best barbeque dinner and show. The Jungle Queen staff works very hard to make this a special night for all. We can see why the Jungle Queen has been providing tours for over 70 years. It is definitely not to be missed!
Also, we would like to thank Royal Limousines for the unbelievable ride from the airport. Our daughter’s personal dream was to ride in a stretch limo. Never did she expect to see a Hummer stretch limo pull up in front of her at the airport. She felt just like Cinderella! Miguel, thank you for everything you did to make our transportation luxurious and enjoyable. All of your drivers were outstanding!
Finally, we would like to express our sincere thanks to Heidi Cohen for everything she and the Jack & Jill Late Stage Cancer Foundation has done to give us a most treasured gift--family time in a relaxing, beautiful place. Her personal touch, care and genuine excitement upon hearing our experiences were so appreciated. We truly feel like we have made a friend forever. God bless you, Heidi, and all of your donors at the Jack & Jill Foundation. We can only hope that all of your kindnesses be returned to you.
With much warmth, gratitude and love,
John, Lisa, Johnny and Elisabeth Fox
P.S. We cannot forget to mention Connie Spence, our Bryn Mawr Hospital Oncology Social Worker, who arranged for us to connect with Heidi Cohen from the Jack & Jill Foundation. Since the beginning when John was diagnosed, she has helped our entire family cope and process the diagnosis, treatment and everyday life with cancer and, for that, we are forever grateful. We love you Connie!
VEALE Family WOW Experience
It is difficult to find adequate words to express our sincere appreciation for our San Juan, Puerto Rico vacation. The WOW Experience, in collaboration with the sponsors of the Jack & Jill Foundation, provided a unique opportunity for our family to create memories that will last for a lifetime.
Please allow me to share our experiences and activities with you. From the beginning, Heidi was very helpful, informative and cordial. It was certainly a pleasure dealing with her. The itinerary was set out clearly and everything went very smoothly. Starting Monday morning, we arrived in Atlanta at the Park n Fly Plus and it was14 degrees! The attendant quickly grabbed our bags and rushed us inside. Then, we were escorted to the Airport and AirTran. I especially enjoyed our trip down on Air Tran Flt. 5 because the pilot told of his flight plan and pointed out areas of interest on the way down. When we arrived at the airport where we were met by a black limo and then sped off to the Marriot Resort. There we were greeted by Olga and several of her staff. The kids got a big kick out of this, as we were treated like royalty! We followed our bags to an executive suite which over looked the pool and ocean. There, in the room, we found two gift bags of goodies which included denim shirts, fanny packs and travel wallets. In addition, there were two 3 tiered stands filled with fruit, cookies, juices and snacks. On the bed laid a warm welcome note from the Hans-Georg Rohrbein, the General Manager of the Marriott Resort offering us complimentary meals &movies. After catching our breath, we quickly changed and headed to the beach. Having eaten very little during the day we were ready for the seafood buffet provided by Marriott Global Reservations and sales team. We sat down to one of the best dining experiences I’ve ever had, from our wonderful waiter, John, to the delicious food it was first class!
After a great night’s sleep, we awoke to an amazing breakfast buffet provided by the San Juan Marriott Resort. It began to rain so we decided to take a trip to Old San Juan. Thus began one of our most memorable experiences. We were told that there was a festival and that the taxi could only get us close to our destination. We took a taxi with a non English speaking driver and off we went flying over the bumpy roads, in and out of traffic with the driver constantly blowing his horn. He ran a red light without slowing down and then came to a sudden stop in front of the Capital Building. Here, he proceeded to back up over 100 yards against on coming traffic. I’ve never been so happy to get some place alive! The day soon cleared up and we returned to the motel to enjoy the relaxation of the beach and pool.
The next day we awoke early to enjoy a tour to the rain forest. We learned about wild dogs, wild cats and wild chickens. We saw beautiful scenery and waterfalls with exotic plants and flowers everywhere. It was truly a wonderful trip! Then, back to the motel for more sand and sun! That evening we received a big surprise for my 55th birthday, a delicious carrot cake provide by the San Juan Marriott.
We awoke sadly to our last day with the intent to make the most of it. Off we headed back to Old San Juan to explore SanJuan’s largest fort, El Morro. We continued to take many pictures of the beautiful scenery and also shopped for trinkets. Hailing a taxi, we headed back to the Marriott for our trip home. We went to thank Olga for the wonderful hospitality when we discovered we had left Mallary’s camera in the last taxi. We had almost 300 pictures from this fantastic trip. Mallary and I were both physically ill since we had no time or way to retrieve the camera. Thankfully, our daughter had brought her camera and all was not lost. She also had some very good pictures to help us relive our special vacation. We ended our trip by arriving back in Atlanta that evening to snow flurries!
This had been the first time as a family we had ever been on a plane together. We had all flown, but never as a family. And that was the most important thing of all, to get away as a family and enjoy our time together without all the normal distractions. This was accomplished by the Jack and Jill Foundation and their fantastic WOW Experience. This is an adventure my children, wife and I will have for a lifetime.
I would like to sincerely thank Heidi, the Jack and Jill Foundation and their gracious sponsors for their contributions for this memorable trip. The sponsors were truly outstanding whether they knew we were WOW quest or not. From the waiter John at the Marriott Buffet to the Air Tran Pilot to enthusiastic shuttle driver name Martha for Park n Fly Plus! There wonderful treatment of us speaks volumes to their employers and added to our amazing experience. Thanks to everyone involved! This opportunity you provided for us will allow us to look back for many years to come with cherished memories. Please know what a rare and special treat you all made possible for our family that has experienced many challenges and heartbreaks for the past twelve months! May God Bless You All!
Tommy & Mallary Veale
Dear Jack & Jill Late Stage Cancer Foundation:
When a mother is told news such as I received, One of the first thoughts that I got was how do I spend as much time as I can with my kids making good memories to last them a lifetime? You gave me the answer.
It was truly a dream come true for my children to have had this experience during such hard time in their lives. I humbly thank the following for making it possible: I would like to thank Air Tran for providing speedy transportation with a smile. The Sheraton New York where we were treated like Royalty. Radio City Music Hall your generosity was heart felt. The People at Disney for those wonderful tickets. “The Lion King” was truly Spectacular. Madam Tussauds Wax Museum we have great pictures thanks to you. Thank you Carey Limousine Service for driving us in style. I would like to extend my gratitude to Park and Fly Plus, which treated us with prompt and courteous service, exactly what you want after a long trip. In advance I would like to also thank the good people at Kodak for printing and setting our memories in a lovely album. Due to my lack of energy we were not able to go to the Circle line cruise and the Grey line tour buses but would like to thank them just the same for their generosity. And last but certainly not least thank you Heidi and all of the hard working men and women at The Jack and Jill. You will always be in my thoughts and prayers.
I would like to wish you all Happy Holidays!
Sincerely,
Lidia
September 29, 2008
Dear Heidi,
Thank you so much for creating such a wonderful weekend of memories for us. From our arrival at the Marina Marriott on Friday evening to our-post Emmy’s Awards dinner Sunday night, the weekend was such a positive experience for the three of us.
The weekend started with our arrival at the Marina Marriott where staff was waiting in the lobby for our arrival with keys in hand. We didn’t even have to check-in. We were escorted to our two adjoining Marina-view rooms where fruit, cheese, and dessert platters were awaiting us. What a nice treat that was! That was followed by a wonderful dinner at the hotel.
The next day, after enjoying breakfast served in our rooms, we set off for Catalina on the Catalina Express out of Long Beach. After arriving on the island, we walked over to Island Rentals where a canopied four-seater golf cart awaited us. The golf cart made all the difference. We were able to drive all over the island and enjoy the wonderful scenery. We had lunch at a great little restaurant that is a local landmark. Then back onto the Catalina Express where we passed a huge school of dolphins while en route back to Long Beach.
Sunday was the Emmy Awards! That was truly something special. As I mentioned to you in the planning stages for our WOW weekend, you could not have selected a better opportunity for our family as my fifteen year-old son Noah is a big entertainment buff. We traveled to the awards in our black-tie finery via a fully stocked luxurious limousine, spent time on the Red Carpet, and had great seats for the show. All of us had a great time and my son was so excited to see one of his favorite pundits win an Emmy. How perfect was that!
Our Emmy’s Awards hosts, Steve Kasten and his family, could not have been more gracious. Steve made sure all of us, including me, were ok at all times. It was a hot, sunny afternoon and Steve even made sure I found a shady place to stand on the Red Carpet which was no easy feat.
In addition to accompanying Steve and his family to the Emmy’s, we had the pleasure of being accompanied by JAJF founder Jon Albert. Being able to spend time with Jon and thank him in person for this wonderful opportunity as well as the very idea of the foundation added to the uniqueness of the weekend.
We feel truly fortunate to have had this experience in what has been a most difficult and trying year for our family. I can’t find the words to truly express how wonderful it was to take a break from the routine of medical appointments and major illness and do normal things. Well, not too normal I guess, as how many folks get to attend the Emmy’s!
So thank you, thank you, thank you to you and Jon for making all this possible. And please extend my thanks to Marina Marriott General Manager Murray Lowe for his gracious hospitality, to Steve Kasten without whom the Emmy’s experience would not have been possible, and to the staff of Catalina Express and Island Rentals for their generous donations to our weekend experience. We are so appreciative and truly touched by the kindness and generosity of all the parties involved.
This was truly a “WOW! Experience” and a “memory opportunity” we will always remember and cherish.
With much gratitude,
Gayle Hawkins and family
Dear Heidi and everyone at Jack & Jill Late Stage Cancer Foundation,
Today I had the happy experience of hearing about a wonderful trip that JAJF afforded one of our patients and his family to Puerto Rico recently. There were huge smiles as details unfolded about being whisked away by plane to San Juan Puerto Rico, being met by a limo, pulling up to a fabulous hotel where they were "literally treated like movie stars for four days." It was apparent that it wasn't easy to find the words to adequately express the joy your kindness gave this sweet family. They were lifted so high! After months of medical appointments and procedures, frightening words, treatments and financial stress, you gave them an indelible memory that would not have happened otherwise.
Thank you so much.
Martha Giardina, BSW
The Emory Clinic
Department of Radiation Oncology
Heidi,
Timothy and I want to thank you so much for our trip to New Jersey. We really appreciate the generosity of the individual and corporate sponsors/donors who helped make our trip a reality. We were treated like royalty throughout the entire trip. It meant so much to us.
Park N Fly Plus valet parking was extremely nice. It was reassuring to know our car was safe while we were on our trip and to be shuttled to and from the parking area was a bonus with all our luggage! We also appreciated the bags with all the goodies in them.
Air Tran personnel were extremely nice. We were upgraded to business class (first row bulkhead seats) so Timothy's first airplane flight was a very special treat indeed. He got the best window seat on the airplane! The stewardesses were so friendly, too!
Our rental car was extremely nice that Enterprise Car Rental provided for us. The manager provided a wonderful (almost brand new) car. It drove like a dream and was great on gas. Other personnel went above and beyond the call of duty to make sure our stay was great.
The Holiday Inn in East Windsor, New Jersey was very spacious and beautiful. We had a wonderful room and enjoyed seeing members of a wedding party having such a good time while we were there. Timothy had fun playing games on the computer in the lobby. We also loved the beautiful fountain outside.
Finally, Six Flags outdid themselves with the VIP Off Road Adventure Tour and the Guided Theme Park Tour. As you will see from the photos, we had a wonderful time. We learned so much about all the animals at the Wild Safari. Even African animals don't like our heat and humidity! It was amazing to watch the bears, not to mention the giraffes, baboons, elephants and many other animals. Our guide for the Off Road Adventure Tour was Eddie. He made sure we stayed safe and had many surprises in store for us. It definitely made a difference to have such a knowledgeable guide and it was a lot more fun than just driving through the park. Plus we got to feed the animals - what fun!
Peter was our tour guide for the park. Timothy had a great time riding the rides and playing the games. I enjoyed the hydrotherapy and games, too. The cabana was a very welcome sight. Peter made sure we stayed hydrated and kept our adventure going non-stop. We enjoyed meeting all of the characters. Batman, Green Lantern and Wonder Woman were up close and personal. Who could forget the dolphins? We loved the show. The trainers were so friendly and we had a good time getting our picture made them. Peter was very patient taking pictures of us as we got to hug them. They are such talented, gentle creatures.
All in all, it was a spectacular time. Once again, we can't say "thank you" enough to everyone who made this trip possible. It was the one thing that our family looked forward to while Ed went through chemotherapy and radiation last year. Although we wished he'd lived to be with us on the trip, we know he was there in spirit.
Marilyn Roberts
May 19, 2008
Dear Heidi,
We just got home from our incredible trip to Orlando that you arranged for our family. It was spectacular, and that is a complete understatement! It so exceeded our expectations, and accomplished everything and more than it was intended to. Every detail was exceptional, and we felt so pampered and carefree. It was wonderful to escape the reality of chemotherapy and oncology and radiology, even if only for a few days. The fear and stress were replaced with magic and light-heartedness and FUN!!
We were so touched and humbled by the sincere care and generosity of each of Jack and Jill Foundation’s partners. It has been an honor for our family to be the recipient of this kindness. We are so grateful.
Park N Fly Plus handled all the details with our car and getting shuttling us to the airport…smiling the whole time, even before 5:00am! Air Tran had the tickets ready immediately, and we enjoyed the smooth and efficient flight. Their employees were wonderful. Mears Transportation was waiting in Orlando with a sign “Ryan Family”, just as planned. Angel, our driver, was great, and even had a car seat for Abigail. Check-in at Marriot’s Orlando World Center went smoothly, and the customer service there was outstanding. They gave us a beautiful suite with an adjoining double room for the children. The accommodations were spectacular, and we are ever so grateful for the generosity. They also provided all of the meal vouchers for the hotel restaurants, which was a very appreciated gift as well. Sea World had our tickets waiting and gave us additional passes to get through lines faster and have priority seating at some shows. Our children loved every minute at Sea World, and because of the passes, they had so much time to explore and go on rides. Disney World also had our tickets waiting and provided us with a ‘special assistance’ pass which helped very much with wait times. We spent a day at the Magic Kingdom and a half-day at each Animal Kingdom and Epcot. After spending our last day in Orlando at the hotel pool, we flew back to Atlanta and are now safely at home. All went exactly as planned!!
This trip was perfect for each of our children, Madeline (11), Michael (10), Andrew (6), and Abigail (4). I have never seen them all so happy. This has been the most wonderful vacation, a complete holiday from the reality of a brain tumor and the sadness and insecurity it can instill in us all. I wish I had more than the two little words that say ‘thank you’. Our gratitude is enormous! It has been extraordinary to see and feel the compassion of Jack and Jill Foundation and all of the businesses that contributed to our trip…all of the love and care and kindness of everyone involved.
With unending gratitude and appreciation,
The Ryan Family
Brennan, Lisa, Madeline, Michael, Andrew, and Abigail
May 15, 2008
Heidi Cohen and Jon Albert
Jack & Jill Late Stage Cancer Foundation
3282 Northside Parkway NW, Suite #100
Atlanta, GA 30327
Thank you for making an amazing experience at Useppa Island possible. In truth, I’m not sure we can properly express how much we appreciate and enjoyed this WOW Experience from the Jack and Jill Late Stage Cancer Foundation. WOW just doesn’t say enough. It was just spectacular from beginning to end. There are so many people and companies that made this possible for us. Each one made it the experience special and relaxing.
From our arrival at Park ‘N Fly Plus where our car and luggage were taken care of with great ease, to the smooth and efficient flight on Air Tran. Our airport experience was nothing but a pleasure. When we arrived in Fort Myers our limousine driver from Dolphin Carey Transportation was waiting to give our son William (5 years old) the thrill of his life. William loves cars and had never even seen a limousine before, let alone ridden in one. He had hundreds of questions to ask the driver. The driver graciously answered as many questions as he could, and made us feel like celebrities all the way to the marina. That brings us to the slice of heaven named Useppa Island. What an amazing place. We feel extremely privileged to have had the opportunity to enjoy all the amenities and exclusive location.
Our trip to Useppa Island was more than a vacation. It was a chance for us to really relax by the beach as a family. Because we are originally from Florida, our extended families still live there and were able to come by to visit us. This is a rare treat since Charlie’s diagnosis with brain cancer. We feel especially blessed by the opportunity to spend time with them. I don’t think any of us knew how much we needed a break from all the doctor’s appointments and treatments to just be a normal family spending time together.
Everyone on the island was so friendly and welcoming. The staff went out of their way to make us feel welcome and at home. This is especially true for Chad Cadwell, who made the whole experience possible for us. He was so gracious and accommodating. We really enjoyed his company. The Turtle Grass Cottage we stayed in was beautiful and spacious. All of the food at the Collier Inn was delicious without exception. I could go on and on. It was nothing short of perfection.
One of our favorite activities was our fishing charter on Saturday morning. Captain Pat Hagle (Captain Pat Sparrow as our son named him) was the perfect combination of knowledge and patience. He took us to all his best spots and showed us how to catch the most fish. He even taught William to fish so well that he caught some real big fish (wink-wink). We even got the opportunity to go to an isolated beach where we found some of the most beautiful shells. It was such a pleasure to spend the day with him. It was something we’ll never forget.
As you can see, every aspect of our trip was beyond our expectations. We can never express how much this WOW Experience from the Jack and Jill Late Stage Cancer Foundation has done for our moral. We have made very special memories that will stay with us forever. This has truly made a difference in our lives. Thank you so much for allowing us to enjoy this special time together.
Gratefully,
Charles, Aileen and William Skinner
Heidi,
On behalf of myself and my family I want to thank you and everyone who had a hand in providing the wonderful trip to Orlando that we were given. The trip meant a lot to us and we had a great time. We had not spent that much time together in such a fun setting before. We enjoyed all of the parks and will never forget this trip. You guys are certainly dream and memory makers. We had enough fun to laugh and talk about forever. Thank you all.
Mike Richardson and Family
Dear Harold,
My husband and I would like to say thank you for the portraits you took of us last month through the Jack and Jill Foundation. It was so kind of you to give your services. My family will treasure the photos you took for many years. Today I went with Heidi to pick out the frame for the portrait and the it was the first time I got to see it. It turned out very nicely. Thank you again for offering your services.
Sincerely,
Wendy and Andy Alexander
To everyone that helped make our weekend vacation happen, My family and I would like to say Thank You so much for this weekend. I am not sure how much longer I have, but when I am gone, my family will have very good memories of our time together. We haven’t been anywhere as a family in 3 years, so this weekend is very special to us all. Once again we would like to say thank you.
The Moya Family
Dear Karen,
We just wanted to send you a note to say "Thanks" for the terrific weekend. Our family vacations will never be the same. We felt like such rock stars. The staff was awesome, knowing our names, meeting our needs and even a few desires. I'm still trying to find room for all of the gifts and we can't stop talking about the food. Chef Chee, Chef Philippe and Frank were so much fun.
Please tell everyone involved in our vacation that we greatly appreciate all that they did and gave to make our memories special.
Missing the beach,
Mitchell, Yvette, Jacob and Conner Austin
Heidi,
Cathy Evans just glowed this morning when she was in our office – she was absolutely blown away with this weekend, it sounds like it was so positive and healing on many levels, not to mention a truly over-the-top experience for her family (i.e. personalized golf experience, behind the scenes with the Blue Man Group, meeting the Falcon’s coach/team, and very importantly, Jon and his children meeting with them Cathy said how meaningful it was to her husband, they really connected). Cathy shared that she would love to participate/volunteer with JAJF in some way, if ever needed…
Thank you, thank you and THANK YOU from the bottom of our hearts (she shared her experience with several staff members this morning). As always, JAJF is an extraordinary foundation that offers seamless service from start-to-finish. They will always cherish this weekend.
Please extend my appreciation to John and I hope both of your families have a blessed holiday.
Bryan
Bryan Miller, L.C.S.W.
Oncology Social Worker
Atlanta Cancer Care
Cumming, Decatur, Johns Creek & Roswell Offices
Good morning Heidi and Katie,
We all thought this weekend was AMAZING! We all had so much fun.
I wanted to take a minute to tell you how much my family and I appreciate what you did. Its because of people like you and experiences like this that makes having cancer a little easier to deal with. Seeing my kids so happy and filled with excitement means the world to me and will help me get through tough times ahead. Everyone at the hotel and the park made us feel really special. My kids are still talking about it! There are not enough words to describe how much we appreciate what you did so I will simply say THANK YOU!!!!!! You made our year!
Thanks again
With much appreciation,
Theresa, Mark, Nicolas and Amanda Chabot
Dear Atlanta Falcons:
Thank you for a super day! From the ride in, the tour, the on the field experience, meeting everyone just blew us away. Thank you for the great seats and even though the outcome of the game was not favorable, we couldn't have had a better day.
We would like to thank Arthur Blank, Rich McKay, and Coach Bobby Petrino for spending time with us prior to the game. We realize they have a very busy schedule and thought it was very special for them to set aside time for us during their busy morning prior to the game. Our son Steve would like to thank DJ Shockley for taking the time to see us and get a picture with him. Steve was very impressed with all the pregame activities.
We would also like to thank you very much for the autographed memorabilia that you sent our son. He will cherish them for years to come.
We would like to thank all the players that took the time to autograph our sons program after the game. That most certainly was the icing on the cake!
Since we are from Cleveland, we are diehard Browns fans, but since moving to Atlanta we have come to love the Falcons and after this experience, we just love you that much more.
Thanks again for a great time,
Steve, Cathy & Steve Evans
Heidi,
Please share me heartfelt thanks to all those who made these two days of fun possible. Everyday gets harder and harder as we see my husband/their dad get weaker and weaker as he struggles to fight the Cancer, words can never express how grateful we are that we had the opportunity to have a couple of days of fun and some time where we could focus on something besides this dreadful disease. To hear my kids tell their friends about how awesome the limo ride, getting to go to batting practice, meet the players, our seats at the game, the unique opportunity we got to go behind the scenes for a guided tour of the park and learn the history of some of the rides and attractions. They were made to feel special if only for a couple of days and I am forever grateful.
Many Thanks,
Laura, Jimmy, Brandon, and Kristen Hackney
Hi Heidi,
Words can not express how much we appreciated the good deed you and your organization did for us this weekend. My wife and kids were so happy. To see the joy on their faces for an entire weekend was truly a blessing from God. From the moment we walked into the hotel, we were in a state of disbelief. The hotel staff was so nice and friendly, they greeted us with open arms and smiles.
Heidi, you know life isn’t always fair when God shows you favor. We must first give him thanks, for he is the reason we are all here and able to do good deeds for others. You know we always say “I am blessed to be a blessing”. Your organization is truly living by those words. My wife, son, daughter and I thank you so much from the bottom of our hearts, we loved the entire weekend. The limo drive was great, and our photographer, Eric was a joy, he really made our visit very special at the Georgia Aquarian. Everything was really AWSOME!!
Again thank you for bringing my family together to enjoy a stress free weekend, it couldn’t have been better. Heidi, thanks for the joy you put back in our lives, if only for a few days…Thanks. Our memory with the Jack and Jill Foundation is center around “JOY” (Jesus, others, yourself) because you are spreading it right now.
Sincerely,
Killis L Hendricks
A many thanks goes out to everyone that was involved in putting together our WOW weekend trip to the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard. What a great weekend it was from the time we got on the plane to the time we returned home. Everyone that I tell about our trip cannot believe some of the things that we were able to do. Busch race, Helicopter ride to and from race, garage passes, pit passes, Suite passes, drivers meeting, photos with Tony Stewart. What a Weekend,and to top it all off Tony won the race. Thank You Jack Jills for the things you do for cancer patients like my self. Me and my sons have a lot of good memories to look back on.
Thanks Again,
Jeff Richardson
Stephen Richardson
Heidi,
I have attached our thank you letter for Monday night's events. Please feel free to make any comments and/or suggestions. I will admit that I am not a great writer. I am an accountant who is all about the numbers.
As far as the World of Coke Tour, I am doing a little bit of research. Unfortunately, we do not recall our VIP guide's name which I wanted to include in the thank you letter. I spoke with a representative with World of Coke and she is going to forward me the name and the address to send the thank you letter. Hopefully, I will have it this afternoon and will forward my letter to you. My chemo treatment starts back tomorrow so if we do not get it today I will see if Paul can write the letter.
I definitely do not want to leave you out of my thanks. If it was not for all of your calls and contacts, there would be no one to write thank you letters to. The Jack and Jill Foundation and you are doing wonderful things to give families time to forget the sickness and enjoy life. Thanks again and again and again for all that you do. It has been a pleasure getting to know about the Jack and Jill Foundation and you.
Sincerely,
Lisa White
Lisa White and Family
June 11, 2007
Jack and Jill Late Stage Cancer Foundation
Suite 100
3282 Northside Parkway, NW
Atlanta, Georgia 30327
So simply said - but, so heartfully felt ... thank you!
You cannot imagine how much the day meant to our family. It was a day that honored my children for their unconditional love, support and bravery since my diagnosis nearly five years ago. For that, I am forever grateful.
Cancer is unbelievably complex. Every patient reacts a little differently, both biologically and psychologically. The only constant in cancer is inconstancy; the only certainty is a future of uncertainty. Unfortunately, it profoundly affects every member of the family. It is a road that no child should ever have to endure ... a road of endless heartache and anguish in its purest form.
Thank you so much for honoring my children and giving us a day of "normal" ... a day of laughs and wonderful memories that they will hold with them forever.
A special thank you to Chris, our limousine driver and to Erica Newsome of the Brave's organization ... the day could not have been more enjoyable!!
With endless gratitude,
Jane M. Kerns
May 15, 2007
Heidi Cohen
Jack & Jill Late Stage Cancer Foundation
Dear Heidi,
We really want to express our heartfelt gratitude for all the work you did to arrange the weekend for our family. It meant so much to us to be able to enjoy time together during this difficult time in our lives.
We want to start at the beginning and thank everyone that was involved in making this weekend so memorable, full of great memories.
The entire staff at the hotel was so nice and helpful. It was nice to arrive at the hotel and already be recognized. Thank you.
Lynn had a couple of conversations with the chef Tony. He was very accomodating and wanted to make sure our meal was perfect and it definitely was. I can't remember the last time we were actually able to sit down and enjoy a meal like that. Thank you Tony.
Once we left the hotel it got better. Rochell did us a great favor by sending her mother, Myrtle, to the hotel to watch Molly so we could enjoy the great meal. Thank you Myrtle.
Rochell also did a superb job getting us into the symphony. Molly loves music and really enjoyed the concert. She stayed awake through the entire concert which is sometimes difficult for her. We want to thank Rochell for setting it up so we could meet some of the performers. Thank you Rochell. They were a great group of people. Thank you so much for taking time out of your busy schedule to meet us.
Once again, Heidi, we want to thank you personally for all the hard work you put into getting this all set up. At the beginning when we were approached, we were not sure if it would be able to pull this off because of Molly's special situation but you did it and you did it with flying colors.
I will send a few of the 70 pictures we took of the entire weekend. It is obvious in the pictures that we enjoyed every minute.
Sincerely,
Jeff, Lynn and Miss Molly Koch
Heidi,
I would like to thank the Jack and Jill Late Stage Cancer Foundation, the Sheraton Suites Hotel, Zoo Atlanta and the Georgia Aquarium for a WONDERFUL getaway! It was so nice to spend time together as a family without having to worry about doctor's appointments, bills and test results. We all truly enjoyed ourselves and I am so
The staff at the Sheraton was so nice and courteous. My daughters could not believe that we had four TVs in our room and they loved ordering room service and movies. We even let them stay up late and order chocolate cake while we all watched a movie together. They also really enjoyed the indoor/outdoor pool. We really enjoyed our stay there.
We have been to the Zoo Atlanta many times, but the VIP tour let us see the zoo in a whole new way. All the staff members were very informative and they answered any and all questions we had about the animals. The real star of our visit was Kelly the elephant. The girls loved feeding her and have not stopped talking about her. They also enjoyed meeting Rosie the rhinoceros.
The girls and I have visited the Georgia Aquarium before, but my husband had never been so they had a blast showing him around. Our favorite is still the Beluga whales and we also really enjoyed watching the River Otters. As always the aquarium was a real treat.
Thanks to everyone again for a wonderful time. I cannot express how much it means to have these memories.
Sincerely,
Allison Lyrberg
Jack & Jill
Late Stage Cancer Foundation
Jon and Heidi,
We would like to thank the Jack & Jill Foundation for providing our family the opportunity to visit New York City. My wife, Micki, first developed breast cancer four years ago. The prognosis was good after she completed Chemo. But the cancer came back shortly after that. Hardly a day has gone by the last four years that cancer has not controlled our lives. This get a away trip to New York was a blessing. To be able to travel to New York with the children and get away for a weekend, it was the happiest that my wife has been in a long time. It’s a memory that my children and I will cherish forever.
The city highlights boat tour around the harbor and the city sights bus tour around New York were very entertaining and informative. We also had a great time at Madame Tussauds Wax Museum and the Broadway shows, The Drowsy Chaperone and the Blue Man Group.
Trump International Hotel & Tower was an amazing place to stay. The staff could not have been any kinder than what they were. The hotel concierge gave us gift certificates to eat dinner at the Fireman Hospitality Group restaurant Café Fiorello and lunch at the China Grill Management restaurant Hudson Cafeteria. Also, the Manhattan Limousine Company picked us up at the airport when we arrived and took us back to the airport when it was time to leave. They were great.
Words cannot express our gratitude. The service that your organization provides to the families of cancer patients is invaluable.
Thanks again,
Charlie Mangan
April 30, 2007
Dear Christine Parker and Katie Seuberling (Staff at Stone Mountain Park
We would like to thank you for all the work that you did to make this a wonderful weekend for our family. You don't realize what is missing in your life until you are given the opportunity to receive it. This is the first trip we have had with just the three of us. And to watch each other laugh and have a good time is something that we will remember forever. The room and boarding was great, our daughter thought it was very cool to have her own hotel room at four years old. The staff treated us special like the pins said. We don’t know how else to thank you for the wonderful weekend. We felt like a normal family for once, to be able to relax and enjoy a weekend vacation with out having to worry about our everyday struggles. It felt great to leave that all behind for two days. The food and snack coupons that you provided for us was very nice of you, the food was great. Again we would like to say thank you for taking the time out to help Jack and Jill Foundation make wonderful memories for our family.
Sincerely,
Shomari Minter-Smith (father)
Adneisha Minter-Smith(mother)
Talieah Minter-Smith (daughter)
August 2, 2007
Heidi, thank you, we had a great time especially the kids. The trip was very well organized, and we were very well taken care of with VIP treatment and all. We enjoyed the Duck ride very much, and the rooms were great. Duane was super nice. We are grateful for the opportunity and touched by the generosity of those who helped to make this trip possible.
God bless you all.
Justin, Mai, Alex, Adrien and Alan.
February 24, 2007
Dear Heidi/ Jack and Jill Foundation,
What a wonderful experience our family had at the Circus! Me, my husband, Jim, and my son, Jared, all attended. The day started out perfect by being picked up in a limousine. That was my son's first experience in a limousine and he was beside himself. He said he wanted us to buy a car like that. He enjoyed the animal crackers, gingerale and snacks the driver provided for us all. I especially loved the beautiful tulips the limo driver brought me. I am weak from the chemo so having such a luxurious type of transportation was wonderful. Not having to find somewhere to park and walk helped save much of my energy to enjoy the circus. Once we arrived, we were greeted by the photographer who stayed with us the entire time and took tons of pictures of our experience. I know we will enjoy them for years to come. The private meet and greet we had with the performers was really neat. They were all very kind and very funny! That was the first time my son and I had seen the circus. He loved every part of it, but he says his favorite was the acrobats. He would like to quit baseball and learn to become an acrobat so he can join the circus, we all laughed at that one! Having the private booth was perfect. It was a very comfortable place to relax and enjoy the show. My immune is low which means I can catch bugs easily, so it was good not to be sitting so close to others to avoid germs. I can't thank the Jack and Jill Foundation enough for the experience they provided for my family! We have been through a lot this year so it was a great day to let go of all my stresses and enjoy my family in a great environment! I thank God for all the people who took part in making this day possible. What the foundation does is a true blessing! We are all grateful for all the gifts you have given us. I pray the foundation will be able to provide this incredible service for many others.
Thank you Again!
Nicole Smith and family
Heidi, Jon,
I hope all is well with both of you. I feel like I have not thanked you and your organization enough. Since the trip, we have been under a lot of stress. Casey has been pretty sick since we got back through mid January with flu-like symptoms, which have delayed some treatments, but essentially, she was out of commission for about a month. As of last week, she is starting to come back to “normal”. She had her treatment last week and we have 2 more. We tried to keep it low-keyed during the holidays, but inevitably, it was a lot of work. On top of that, I have had to travel more than I would like and my company dropped a bombshell and asked us to relocate to Dallas this Spring. We won a significant account and I will be part of the leadership team (not a bad thing, just one more thing to stress about). And, of course, the kids have an endless number of activities that have kept us busy. That being said (and I’m not complaining), I feel like I haven’t said thank you.
The trip was an incredible experience for us. First of all, the fact that your organization wanted to do this for us and show us the kindness and generosity that you have done is overwhelming. As you may know, not only is this difficult physically for Casey to continue to endure the chemo, it takes an emotional toll on all of us. Casey and I have made the conscious decision to try and maintain a somewhat stable environment for the kids so they don’t have to worry as much, so the burden of enduring this falls on Casey and me. Being able to forget (temporarily) of the hard chemo sessions and just have fun in DC was a wonderful blessing. Second, the time we spent together seeing the sites of DC and especially the program was something the kids will never forget. Not many kids get to me the President, and now my kids have that unique experience. Thank you.
Turner made us feel like true VIPs. They were incredible with the kids as we prepared for the program and helping Natalie get ready for her part. They even sent us a gift basket after the program with 12 DVDs, including a special edition box set of the Harry Potter movies.
We received the book this past week and it was beautiful. I can’t thank you enough for that and it will go up on our display shelves in the family room.
I truly want to thank you for this trip. It was a memory we will never forget. Your generosity was overwhelming and for a few days, our family felt like royalty.
If there is ever anything I can do for the foundation, please let me know. I would be happy to help.
Thanks,
Rob, Casey, Eric, Natalie and Tyler Norr
Irene
Thank you and the Westin Savannah Harbor Resort for a fantastic weekend. We all felt terribly spoiled. You and the staff were very attentive and made our trip a once in a lifetime adventure.
You have a beautiful hotel and a wonderful city. The time that we spent together as a family this past weekend was more special than any other vacation we have been on. Just to be able to spend time together without thinking about cancer for a whole weekend was amazing.
We have all decided that we need to go back sometime to see some of the things we did not have time to. We will also enjoy seeing you and your staff again.
Sincerely,
Brian, Lee, Josh and Jennifer
Lisa White
837 Mount McKinley Way
Grayson GA 30017
October 25, 2007
Gwinnett Center
ATTN: Julia Karrenbauer
6400 Sugarloaf Parkway
Duluth, Georgia 30097
RE: Jack & Jill Foundation / So you think you can dance? Tour
Dear Julia,
On behalf of my whole family, we want to thank you. You went above and beyond to make our experience a one of a kind. We will cherish these moments for years to come all because of you.
We are going to frame the poster and yes, allow Veronica to put it in her sitting room. Her excitement to meet the dancers in a one on one VIP setting was priceless. I’ll admit for me too. It was also nice to step across the street to the Hilton Garden Inn to lay our sleepy heads down and dream of the night all over again.
Sincerely,
Lisa White
Lisa White and family
Heidi,
Please be on the lookout from Mike with some photos from the Jack and Jill Foundation trip to Steamboat. But first of all we would like to humbly thank you and Jon Albert for the most unforgettable family trip to Steamboat, Co. It was truly more than we could ever have dreamed of. Our children saw "Real" snow for the first time in their lives. Combined with the kind ski lesson and great equipment you provided them they were already skiing intermediate runs by their 2nd day.
Alpine Shuttle service was prompt and we felt very safe considering the icy road conditions. They stopped for restroom/snack breaks and gave good information on Steamboat ( a little history on the way).
The Sheraton Resort could not have been nicer. A ski in-ski out situation for us was just perfect since I needed to rest every day. The service at the hotel was impeccable and the food at every meal was incredible.
Also, the kids were in heaven on the Red Runner Dog Sled Adventure. They took us out on a frozen lake, taught the kids how to harness the dogs and best of all they each got to steer the sleds. And being big dog fans and having our own Siberian Husky, it was the icing on the cake to the trip:-)
We hope we can personally thank everyone involved in this once in a lifetime event that we will never forget. And after everything our two children have been through these years with Fran's illness it was like Heaven seeing them with the biggest smiles on their faces. We will look at the pictures and be reminded of how blessed we were to be chosen and treated by your organization.
We hope one day to be able to help you raise money for this more than worthwhile foundation you have created.
Blessings and Many Thanks,
Mike and Fran Wellstead
I apologize for my thank you not being in a more timely manner. However, life continues to throw curve balls. I started with a cold while I was in Florida and ended up with Pneumonia and then we received word that my husbands' nephew faced an untimely death.
I don't even know where to begin to express our gratitude. Thank you seems so small for the overwhelming acts of kindness that were showed my family. Thank you Heidi for having a foundation that allowed us a family retreat after such a difficult year. And Jon I know if I start naming things I will surely miss someone or something but the memories will be with us forever. IT WAS PERFECT!!!
The staff & merchants made us feel like royalty. I remember having a sewage backup on Christmas day and not wanting to call and take someone from their families but we had to. I don't think I had actually put the phone back when there was a knock at the door. And two very, very nice men were there to help.
When we arrived the house was adorable with the tree trimmed and stocking hanging and a visit already from Santa. WOW!! The gifts could not have been more perfect. It was as if you knew my children individually including their favorite colors. My son's skateboard was a huge hit. I mentioned to you that we love board games and have a million of them, however the games you gave us…we did not already own.
And all the fabulous meals that were planned at the different restaurants and cafes, it was fun to watch the Truman Show and see the store where we enjoyed fresh squeezed orange juice with our breakfast and see the owner on the ladder (we were there). We were blown away when you took us around to the bookstore and seaside shop and they were so generous with the gift cards. We received shirts from Bud & Alleys that we have been wearing since we have been back home and we have had several customers comment on what an excellent restaurant it is and "didn't you just love their sweet potato fries"! What a fun evening both there and the Red Bar. Everyone was so kind.
You know how much we enjoyed the bikes and especially the segway. I personally had a great time on it the day we all rode over to Publix. We were grateful for the gift cards that they furnished. We are not even sure who to thank for Christmas Dinner (that was like being at grandmas) or for the breakfast that was delivered and the Pizza. Wow does the list go on.
And what a fun day we spent working on our ice cream bowl at the pottery shop. We felt like family when we left. In fact our children kept saying they felt like we should stop in and say goodbye AGAIN.
Everyone enjoyed the tennis and my husband wanted to make sure I again said thanks for restringing his racquet. It was a really fun day for Keith to play with the children and I enjoyed some sleep. We have received the email with the proofs from Shane and thrilled to have finally had a family portrait made. It has been to many years. And best of all he seemed to have captured our personalities and love for each other.
I am sure I have missed things and not because they were not important to us just the shear volume of generosity was overwhelming. But before I close I would once again like to personally thank Jon for all the time and effort in organizing such a fairy tale week. Even the extra night in the house when you learned that we would be arriving a little earlier than expected was not taken for granted. And the impromptu tour of the Vera Bradley Inn You were an amazing host!
And now in closing my motto in life has always been to live like you are dying. Never go without saying I love you to those you love. Or thank you, to someone who has shared an act of kindness. You each have left a footprint on our hearts and we will be forever grateful!!
Sincerely,
Julia & The Westover Family
March 27, 2008
Special Thanks To:
Mrs.Victoria Cobb and staff at the Ritz Carlton,
Dailey and staff at the World of Coke,
Tony and Shawn and staff at Six Flags over Georgia,
Jen and Samantha and staff at Phillips Arena and Atlanta Hawks,
To the wonderful people who gave us the most beautiful Suite,
And last for the wonderful photographer Eric Bern and his son.
May the Lord repay you for all you have done. This is a sincere message that expresses our deepest gratitude for everything that was done for us this wonderful weekend. It will be a very memorable time in our lives. We appreciate all the gifts that was given to our children, they will never forget this time in their lives. They have talked and shared this weekend with anyone that would listen. My husband (Tony) and I (Tara) truly have been blessed by wonderful people like you all.
May God Bless you All
Tony,Tara,D'Angel,Mario,Kamaron,Brendin
October 8 2007
We would like to take this opportunity to THANK all that had a part in ourWOW! Experience TM weekend. I must say it was a “wonderful” weekend! Starting with everyone at the Grand Hyatt; the staff was exceptionally nice from the time we arrived on Friday until we left on Sunday. We ate dinner and breakfast both days down at Cassis. The staff there was very considerate of Hunter and Halie. I know that the restaurant is a very extravagant/elegant setting however; they made my kids feel very welcome. They made sure they got their food first. They served them ice cream with faces made out of M&M’s. Hunter and Halie got a kick out of that. They opened the doors to the patio so that they could go in and out as they pleased. They took very good care of us. The food at Cassis was outstanding. Again, thank you for all that the Grand Hyatt did, you all are above the rest in a class of your own.
We arrived at the Zoo Saturday morning a little earlier than scheduled. It was impossible to keep Hunter and Halie under control due to their overwhelming excitement. I had talked to them for the past 2 weeks about going to the zoo. Every morning leading up to Saturday, they both asked me if that was day we were going to the zoo. I would always tell them how many days we had left. Ok, so Saturday morning got here, they woke up with smiles on their faces. They could not wait to see the animals. They were both like little windup toys but their little turn mechanism had broken off. So, we got into the gate and let them run around until Duane arrived. I must say having Duane there was amazing. (Thank you so much Duane for your time. It was great having you with us.) To be followed and have him capturing the looks on my kids faces seeing all the animals. At times they were just so amazed; they would stand still and just watch the animals. Being able to have all 4 of us in pictures, we will look back on these for years to come. Duane I hope Hunter didn’t drive you too crazy. I know he talked your ears off but thanks for being so understanding. Again, the kids had so much fun at the zoo. At the end of our day we had one last thing to do. That was to feed the elephants!!!! I had talked to the kids about this leading up to Saturday. We walked into the exhibit where the elephants were being washed. The kids were amazed. I know they didn’t expect to be that close to something so Large! They were very hesitant of feeding her. However, I will say I enjoyed the experience! Letting Tara eat of my hands, ok I must say it was a little messy but an experience of a lifetime. Once my kids saw that Tara would eat the food off the floor they were asking to throw her food to her. So, the zoo keeper allowed them to throw the whole bucket. After feeding the elephants, I was very surprised that Lori Perkins added a little more to our visit than we expected. She actually took us behind the scenes and allowed us to meet the lions up close and personal. Well, not to personal Hunter said he didn’t want to be eaten for lunch. Again, the kids were in amazement. They have not quit talking about all of this. At the end of the day the kids had to call their grandmother to tell her about their day. I only wish I would have thought earlier to get the video camera out. The excitement in their voices brought tears to my eyes. They were going on and on about their day and they were so excited that at times it was very hard to understand them. Thanks again to all the zoo employees and Duane Stork for making our day one that we will remember for years to come!
On Sunday, we visited the Georgia Aquarium. This day too was a very enjoying day. We were able to watch the otters wake up. The kids were front side viewing of the morning feeding of the sea lions. They really had a great time enjoying all the fish. They were kind of reluctant about touching all the animals but they got a kick out of seeing Jason and I touching all of them.
Again, I would like to THANK everyone who helped in making our weekend both exciting and memorable; one that Hunter and Halie will think about, talk about and remember for years to come.
The Marsh Family
Wendy, Jason, Hunter & Halie
Sent: Saturday, February 24, 2007 9:22 AM
To: Heidi Cohen, Executive Director, JAJF
Subject: Thank You
Dear Heidi/ Jack and Jill Foundation,
What a wonderful experience our family had at the Circus! Me, my husband, Jim, and my son, Jared, all attended. The day started out perfect by being picked up in a limousine. That was my son's first experience in a limousine and he was beside himself. He said he wanted us to buy a car like that. He enjoyed the animal crackers, gingerale and snacks the driver provided for us all. I especially loved the beautiful tulips the limo driver brought me. I am weak from the chemo so having such a luxurious type of transportation was wonderful. Not having to find somewhere to park and walk helped save much of my energy to enjoy the circus. Once we arrived, we were greeted by the photographer who stayed with us the entire time and took tons of pictures of our experience. I know we will enjoy them for years to come. The private meet and greet we had with the performers was really neat. They were all very kind and very funny! That was the first time my son and I had seen the circus. He loved every part of it, but he says his favorite was the acrobats. He would like to quit baseball and learn to become an acrobat so he can join the circus, we all laughed at that one! Having the private booth was perfect. It was a very comfortable place to relax and enjoy the show. My immune is low which means I can catch bugs easily, so it was good not to be sitting so close to others to avoid germs. I can't thank the Jack and Jill Foundation enough for the experience they provided for my family! We have been through a lot this year so it was a great day to let go of all my stresses and enjoy my family in a great environment! I thank God for all the people who took part in making this day possible. What the foundation does is a true blessing! We are all grateful for all the gifts you have given us. I pray the foundation will be able to provide this incredible service for many others.
Thank you Again!
Nicole Smith and family
To all our New York hosts:
Words cannot express our extreme gratitude for the once in a lifetime family memory you provided us. Our New York experiences will definitely be cherished by each of us always. My brain cancer turned our world upside down, but the trip you provided us brought a respite for our family to regroup and have fun together. We so appreciate all that you did for us. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts.
Thank you,
The Castronovas
Dil and Susan,
We had a wonderful time at the farm. Your hospitality allowed us to become part of your family while we were there.
Everyone was GREAT! Even you neighbors seemed to bond with us. We enjoyed the horses, boat, skiing, swimming, skeet shooting, gator riding, motor bikes, and the swamp donkey. The adventures we had with you will be cherished for the rest of our lives.
Thank You for opening your home and family to us.
God Bless!
the Lannings...
Connie, Special K, and DJ
Hi Heidi
Thank you! Thank you! Thank You! You have know idea what this incredible, WOW! weekend this has, and will mean to me and my family for the rest of our lives. Thank you for this fabulous Jack and Jill foundation. I would also like to thank all of the others who where involved in the process of making one of the GREAT, GRAND, HAPPIEST and marvelous weekends in our lives. Thank you Stephanie parker, you are the best. Mr. Delroy Meredith of Georgian Terrace hotel, the hospitality was excellent. You treated me and my family like royalty. Mr. Muhammad for the parking service. Mr. Michael at the civic center and the sign that read, “reserved for the Davis family.” How grand is that? One of the members of the Lion King came out to greet us after the show was, Mr. Paul Sadler that was really special, he took us behind the scene to meet some of the cast, amazing. Mr. Michael our photographer thank you! I know you have captured some wonderful shots of my family, and that is one thing we don't have is family portraits thanks again, it was fantastic. I hope Maurice wasn't to much for you LOL.
You all have filled my heart and lifted my sprits, for to see the joy and happiness in my kids eyes and face. I would like to thank Barbara Bear at WSB Radio, bless you. Our Tour guide at the World of Coke Cola for give me, I can't remember her name, you were awesome knowledgeable. If this is how celebrities are treated or feel, you all definitely made us feel like one. I graciously and humbly thank each and every one of you. I never felt that much love from people who don't know me. The whole experience, WOW! Because of people like all of you I know that things are going to ok. Bless you all
Thanking You With Love
Karen Davis
Hi Heidi,
Just a note that Jack passed away last week and first, I was so happy that he was able to see the pictures in the album and secondly that we were able to show it off at his services. Everyone thought it was the coolest memory for us. Also, just a note that the hat that he had signed from Coach Meyer was such a treasure for him. I caught him one day just looking at it. He wanted Austin, our son to have it for a keepsake. I know you didn't know him but he was a great guy and the trip was such a special thing for all of us. Thanks again!!
Regards,
Jo Anne
Heidi:
Thank you, all yourJack & Jill Late Stage Cancer Foundation friends, and involved partners for wonderful days in the mountains. While the event was a great time, the real benefits were for Greg and Sara!
Roy Swartzberg and his family were very kind in providing their wonderful mountainside house! Seeing the deer roaming the woods immediately around the house was tremendous. And that sight was only part of the relaxation and evening place we called "home."
Sheri's Health Club boat rental was very relaxing. Winding around the lake's islands created the start to an adventures day.
Amicalola Falls State park made for a nice northern excursion. It has been many years since we have been to the park, yet the arrival created immediate, as well as new, memories.
Both Trevi Pizzeria and Amicalola Falls State Park And Lodge provided wonderful dinners! Caty was quite friendly at Trevi's and the Amicalola Mountain view both presented good food for the hunger built by our days.
Heidi, these few days gave us plenty of exercise, exquisite mountain and water viewpoints, and truly family time to help all, particularly Greg, bring relaxation into life! Again, we are most grateful to all in bringing this together.
Heidi, again, thank you and all involved for your kindness!
All the best,
Cathie Gillispie
To whom it may concern.
My wife and daughter join me to thank you for your generosity. Our journey in San Antonio was wonderful. It was so much more than what we could ever imagine and for the first time in over a year, I didn't think of my illness. And it could have never happened without you.
Thank you so much from the bottom of our hearts.
Sincerely,
Nicolas, Lily and Emilie Mathe
This is a thank you for all the wonderful people who work so hard to make a trip for me and my kids take place. To places that we may have never gotten the chance to go if it weren't for the Jack and Jill Foundation and the NBA. You have given me and the kids memories that we will never forget.
Special Thanks to Alex Goldberg and Collin Davis for spending extra time with the boys.
Thank You,
The Thompkins Family
August 21, 2008
The Wildy family would like to thank all of the sponsors and everyone that was involved in our WOW experience with The Jack and Jill Foundation. My family and I will forever cherish each and every moment of our vacation to Las Vegas, Nevada. WHAT A GREAT CITY VEGAS IS! From the time we landed until the time we departed was absolutely enjoyable. We got in so much in 4 days there ought to be a law against it. We did the museum, the gondola ride, 2 shows, the spa, sightseeing, our suite and lets not forget nearly ate ourselves into another weight class. Everyone we came in contact with was very helpful and did not stop until any issue was resolved. We appreciate everything that was done for us and will forever remember our experience in Las Vegas!
Sincerely,
The Wildy Family
Hi Heidi,
My family and I would like to thank Jack & Jill Foundation and all of the sponsors who made this weekend possible. We had such a magnificent time in Los Angeles. All of the activities that were planned were superb. I would like to personally thank the staff at the Marriott Marina Del Rey and Valentino for being so attentive and accommodating to our needs.
Thanks for providing my family with a trip that we will cherish for a lifetime.
Regards,
Vickers Family
Vickers Family
Heidi,
Please let everyone know how wonderful this trip was for us. The hotel was awesome, Six Flags was a blast, Alcatraz and Pier 39 were very enjoyable and the Muir Wood was amazing. San Francisco is the most beautiful city we have ever seen. Everyone made us feel like royalty and this trip will be something we will never forget. We want to thank everyone that made this possible for us. It truly was a dream vacation.
Thanks again!
Cindy, Steven and Trevor Boggs
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I would like to thank everyone for our family time together. Puerto Rico was amazing! Ritz Carlton in San Juan is top notch. We have never experience anything like this before. Thanks to everyone for making this possible for us.
Sincerely,
Jones Family
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Dear Heidi,
It has been a whirlwind couple of weeks since our fantastic weekend in New York, and I am glad for the opportunity to catch my breath, reflect on those wonderful days, and convey to you our gratitude for all that you and your sponsors made possible for us. Just the idea of our trip to New York had given us pleasure in anticipation, and the trip was truly spectacular. After several months of shock, sadness, and the exhaustion of dealing both with medical emergencies and the somewhat overwhelming outpouring of support from so many family and friends, the three of us really needed an escape, and you gave us just that. Where to begin... let me tell you about our weekend:
First, Airtran: how wonderful that you were able to switch at the last minute our outbound flight to accommodate Doug's oncology appointment up in Boston. Their flexibility made it possible for us to have the weekend as planned, with the added bonus that Jack came with us to Boston and got to meet his dad's doctors and see first hand what it means when "Dad is in Boston" every few weeks. The experimental treatment Doug is receiving there promises to give us some extra months together, and it is important for Jack to understand what is happening in 7-year-old terms. So, adding a Boston leg to our trip to our New York provided that opportunity as well. And then we got to take the train from Boston to New York, a treat in itself!
When we arrived at Penn Station in New York, a driver from the Four Seasons met us and drove us in luxury to the hotel, where Pascual welcomed us by name and helped us get settled in. He and all the staff we encountered over the weekend were so kind and thoughtful, and the suite they gave us was beyond spectacular. Jack's room had a view of Central Park out one side, and the Empire State Building on the other -- and ours was equally amazing. The fruit, sweets, and bottle of cabernet were also welcome sights, and Jack wasted no time in getting into his child-sized robe and digging in to the cupcakes. We ordered up a light supper, enjoyed it in the dining room portion of the suite, played a couple of rounds of Trouble, and then fell into bed. We all slept in on Friday morning -- felt great.
On Friday afternoon we walked to Central Park, watched the horses and carriages, and got hot dogs from a street cart -- a quintessential New York experience. Then, we were off to the Museum of Natural History to see the dinosaurs, which lived up to all expectations. Back to the hotel for dinner, and then the Four Seasons driver took us to Times Square and the Lion King.
It was fun to see the lights of Times Square, plus the beginnings of holiday displays going up all around us. And the performance was terrific -- I didn't really know what to expect except that Jack would love it. He did, and so did we! I was especially taken by the costumes -- we had been fortunate enough to go on a safari trip to South Africa last year, so having seen the real animals in their natural habitat made it all the more impressive to see how the costumes and actors captured their personalities and movements. Jack identified all the animals on stage that we had seen on our safari trip. The music, singing, dancing were all great -- but the best part came after the show, when the house manager invited us backstage. It was a little daunting to stand on the stage looking out at all the seats! The chance to see the puppets and costumes, and the machinery that makes the production go, was really special, and our host allowed Jack to hold the Zazu puppet, and try on a warthog and a giraffe's head. Pretty funny, to see a small boy wearing a head that was taller than he is. And a real treat to see the behind-the-scenes mechanics of such a spectacular show. Back to the hotel with music in our heads, and we crashed -- Jack was out cold in seconds, face down in the middle of his king-sized bed, even before pulling back the covers.
On Saturday morning we took a leisurely walk up to the Central Park Zoo, where good friends of ours met us, bringing their kids along too. The kids had fun at the zoo while the adults got to catch up, and we ended up sitting on benches outside the zoo next to a giant boulder that kept the kids occupied for nearly an hour. There was also a juggler performing for passers-by, and we somehow acquired a bunch of balloons. The weather was perfect -- just a light jacket was enough, and it was sunny and mild. After a light lunch together, we said our goodbyes and headed back to the Four Seasons for a rest before the Circle Line tour.
Photographer extraordinaire Paul Williams met us at the dock and joined us on the Circle Line tour. He was wonderful -- not only did he take great photographs of us enjoying the cruise, but he also kindly invited us back to see his studio and gave us armloads of Godiva chocolates left over from a recent shoot. He and Jack had a detailed conversation about Angry Birds, an iPhone app that apparently is sweeping the nation but was news to me and Doug! And he very kindly showed Jack how to use his fancy camera, and traded some photographs with Jack's little point-and-shoot camera. Paul says that Jack has a good eye for photography, and Jack has now added
"photographer" to his list of things he wants to be when he grows up.
We look forward to keeping in touch with Paul -- who knows, maybe Jack will want to do an internship in New York someday.
Now, to the Circle Line cruise -- what a wonderful way to see the city. The Statue of Liberty was of course a highlight -- Jack has known about the Statue of Liberty since he was a toddler and had a puzzle with her on it, and he was jumping up and down with excitement to see her for real. Seeing the skyline in the late afternoon, and then as the lights came on and it turned to evening, was just spectacular. And when we got to the meatpacking district, Doug pointed out the loft building he had lived in when he was first out of school; it was great for Jack to see where Dad used to live, and appreciate the energy of the city from the waterfront, as we had from the 48th floor of the Four Seasons and the walks and drives through the busy streets. On our way back to the hotel, we saw snow all over Park Avenue -- for a movie shoot!
We were happy and tired when we got back to the Four Seasons, and
enjoyed another light supper before turning in for our last night.
Let me say just a little more about the Four Seasons: all of the staff were exceptionally kind and thoughtful, and we enjoyed every minute of our stay. In fact, if there weren't so much that we were
excited to do in the city, we might have just stayed in our room!
Jack enjoyed a spa bath with bubbles and the sponges that spelled out his name -- and now he wants a TV in the bathroom at home, too. He also wants Teddy Grahams to decorate his oatmeal in the morning --
nice touch! Doug slept better than he had in weeks, and I did too.
And for me, having been the primary caregiver for both Doug and Jack for a few months, it was especially restorative to have the Four Seasons staff taking care of me! The food was exquisite, the suite was beautiful, and it was so peaceful just to sit with a glass of wine and enjoy the view while Doug watched a little football and Jack worked on his Four Seasons coloring and activity book. I can't wait to go back!
But alas, Sunday came and it was time to head home -- but not before walking down to the Lego store and seeing the ice rink and the Christmas tree going up at Rockefeller Center. When we returned to the hotel to pack up our things, the faint haze had cleared and we noticed for the first time the Statue of Liberty in the distance, just visible through one of the canyons to the left of the Empire State Building. What a nice moment to enjoy, that somehow seemed to sum up our weekend.
On our way home, Jack started a little book of things he saw in New York, A to Z. I think we're still missing U and V, but he wrote and illustrated his own little memory notebook. That book, along with all our photographs and memories, will be important to us for the rest of our lives. What a special time you created for us. It is hard to know what the coming months will bring, or whether we will be able to make another family trip while Doug is still feeling well enough to travel. I hope so, of course, but we are all so grateful to have had this special opportunity simply to be together as a family, telling stories and writing new ones. We appreciate, more than words can say, the vision of the Jack and Jill Foundation and the kindness you, Jon, and all the sponsors showed us. I look forward to contributing to such experiences for other families in the years to come, and am grateful to the Foundation and all of your donors for our experience.
Sincerely,
Linda (and Doug and Jack)
12/10/2008
We would like to say thanks to all of the people who make trips like this possible. The Westin is a wonderful place to stay. The hotel and dining staff were great and so helpful when we may have had that odd request occasionally. Everyone was very friendly and made our stay enjoyable and relaxing.
I would like to say a special thanks to Senator Johnny Isakson and staff for all their quick work to make our tour possible. The White House is beautiful this time of year with all of the Christmas decorations. It was an honor to be allowed into such a place.
Park n Fly made it so easy getting in and out of the airport. It was nice not to have to deal with the traffic getting out of the airport.
A special thanks to the Willard International Hotel and to Mr Robert Watson for holding our camera equipment so it would be available for us later in the day. It means so much for us to be able to go back and look at the pictures from the trip.
It was great to just “get away” and put our troubles behind for a few days. We appreciate all of the time that everyone puts in to make things like this possible.
Thank You again,
William, Tracie and JB Collins
I,Veronica Gray and my son Cameron would like to thank you all for the wonderful experience we had on our trip to Disney World. We had an amazing 1st flight on AirTran Airways, this was a trip that we will nerver forget. Everything went well the driver was awesome, the hotel room was great, the service was unforgetable. It's people like you, that make dreams come true. We are forever grateful for your expression of companion for others. This trip we will always cherish!!
I can not stop talking about how wonderful your organization, has given us memories we will forever hold dear to our hearts. The Disney Parks was awesome.
Thanks In Advance,
Veronica Johnson-Gray
Cameron Anderson
Heidi,
I want to thank you and thank all those who made our New York City trip so special. We had such a wonderful family vacation. It was so nice to go on vacation without having to worry about anything. The accommodations, transportation, activities, and meals were fabulous. The whole trip exceeded any of my expectations. We had so much fun and so many laughs together. We will remember this vacation always. It was just what our family needed after the tough couple of years we had dealing with my cancer.
Thank you!
Carolyn
Dear Friends,
My name is Jennifer Bowers, and my husband, Rick, and I have three children-Abby (9 years), Will (5 years), and Jack (21 months). We live in Woodstock, GA, and I teach Talented and Gifted elementary school students in a nearby town. My husband worked as a freshwater mussel ecologist and taught part-time at Kennesaw State University on Saturdays. He was working on his PhD long-distance at Kent State University. He was also a member of a band and dabbled in his own music production company. As you have probably guessed, we led very busy lives. This past summer, my husband, who is NEVER sick, began to experience some vision problems, which progressed into ringing of the ears, speech problems, and numbness/weakness on the right side of his body. It took a couple of months, MANY tests, and finally a craniotomy, but my 34 year old husband was finally diagnosed with a brain stem glioma, which is a very rare and serious form of brain cancer. They have given him 3-5 years, but he is determined to beat that and see our children reach all of the important milestones in their lives. The diagnosis also came on the day he was laid off from work. As you can imagine, it was a very rough time for us. Luckily, we have found a lot of support from family, friends, co-workers, and even complete strangers.
Imagine our thrill when we received a call from Heidi at the Jack and Jill Foundation informing us that we had been awarded a trip. Because of Rick's PhD research, we had not been on a family vacation in years, and now because of our financial situation, we weren't expecting to go on one any time soon. We had an absolutely fabulous time on the trip! Every last detail was carefully thought out to make our time easier and more fun. The Park and Fly Plus was so convenient and ideal given all of the luggage we had. Everyone at the airport helped us out, and the limo driver was wonderful. The resort was absolutely beautiful. We had a golf cart, a special wheelchair for the sand, and a shower chair for Rick. Ruth, Rick, and Marcos checked on us many times to make sure we had everything we needed, and Ruth took us personally on a tour of the resort. The kids loved their sand toys and stuffed dolphins. Will had trouble believing that they would be allowed to take them home and not have to leave them for the next group of children who stayed there! The New Year's Eve party, dolphin cruise, and sunset dinner on the beach were a lot of fun for all of us, although Will was afraid that the captain of the boat was lost since we hadn't seen any dolphins for awhile! We ate at different restaurant every lunch and dinner and got to do every activity we were interested in doing at least once. Of course, I enjoyed not having to cook! We really appreciated the groceries that were provided for us for breakfast and snacks. In short, we had a fabulous time and were able to make memories that we will keep for a lifetime. Rick was a little apprehensive about going on the trip. He was afraid to leave his comfort zone here at home, but after facing any challenges that we came across on the trip, he came home with a much more positive attitude. He is originally from Florida, so he enjoyed smelling the sea air and dinner on the beach the most. Abby enjoyed collecting shells that she and her dad identified later and going to the pool. Will enjoyed riding in the golf cart. And Jack enjoyed going places and his new shoes (go and shoes are two of his new words). I enjoyed spending time together away from home, doing fun things, just the five of us. It seems as if we have not had any time to ourselves since this whole thing started. While I appreciate everyone's help, our house has become a revolving door.
So, please accept our most sincere thanks. All of you are wonderful people, and I hope your generosity and kindness are returned to you tenfold should you ever need it.
Sincerely, Jennifer, Rick, Abby, Will, and Jack Bowers
Dear Donors,
We are so very thankful for the wonderful vacation/memory-creating trip that you sent my family and I on to AZ! We can’t thank you enough for all the fun we were able to have while on our trip. The diagnosis of terminal brain cancer has been one of the most challenging things in my life. This trip enabled my family and I to create some amazing/incredible memories that we will cherish forever. Thank you so much! I only hope that one day I can donate money to a family in a similar situation--not that I hope anyone ever gets terminal cancer--but that I have the resources to be able to donate money for a great cause like the Jack & Jill foundation.
Thank you so much!
Spencer, Brianne, Angelina, and Alexander
July 22, 2009
I would like to thank everyone who helped making our trip to Disney world possibles we had a very good time which haven't had in a very long time. It meant the world to me to see my husband act like a kid again and enjoy himself so much. I was hopping to get this letter to you all much quickly however we had an unexpected medical delay were we had to take gabe to Houston medical. None the less the thank all the more I will never forget this amazing experience we had as a family aswell as the new and ever lasting memories. God bless you all and again thank you in so many ways we could never fully express how much this truly meant to us .....
Mr. and Mrs. Gabrial Nieto and kids
Dear Heidi,
I don't know where to start. I was trying to formulate a letter to you from the first day of our wonderful trip! Let me first tell you that my husband works two jobs to keep our health insurance. His partner just had major cancer surgery and has been out for 2 months, one of the few remaining customers they have tripled their work load for this month, and they had to relocate their office this month as well. The timing for our WOW Weekend could not have worked out better, because he was ready to collapse.
When we arrived late in the evening at the W Seattle after a full day of traveling, we were warmly welcomed - "Oh, THE JOHNSONS are here!", Tom and his staff had been waiting and we had just missed them, but they had set up a lovely welcome snack of fresh fruit (including fabulous Rainier Cherries) and juice in our room with a personal note from Tom. We felt like special guests from the first minute we walked in.
Where do I even start about the room? We were given a huge corner suite with a separate room for Hannah. Our suite alone could have seated 20 people - furnished super-modern but still comfortable, it had a giant plasma TV that swiveled from the living to the bedroom area, a gorgeous bathroom with jacuzzi tub, stereos in both rooms as well as a place to dock your ipod. A large vase of fresh pink flowers. VIEWS out of every window. And there were some BIG windows. Including one over the jacuzzi tub.
it was a level of luxury we are entirely unaccustomed to.
Then Hannah spotted the gifts.
On her bed, cuddled up to a "W" Teddy bear, An I-TOUCH.
She says;
"Hello...Are you kidding??? Is this for me? Seriously??? Noooooo Way!! Seriously?? NOOOOO WAAAAAYYYY? Are you kidding? They are giving me this??? WHO? HOW? OH MY GOD I can't believe this, can we LIVE here???"
I am not exaggerating.
Also, wrapped in "W" purple metallic gift bags; candles, "W" baseball caps, "W" logo snowglobe (that lights up), bath products, and among other things, Seattle City Passes and tickets to the Seattle Ducks tour!
Hannah was bouncing off the walls with happiness. You have teenagers, so you know that this can be a rare moment for these usually cranky and unimpressed humans. The trip could have ended right there and I would have been content.
This hotel made us feel special at every contact with any employee. I don't know what Tom said to them, but they were all looking out for us. "Oh, THE JOHNSONS, right this way, you're THE JOHNSONS!" Everyone was just so nice & solicitous! We met Tom and his assisants. They THANKED US for coming!
We had one dinner in the restaurant that was so gourmet I was not sure Hannah would eat anything. She's a picky vegetarian teenager who doesn't like vegetables. She ate everything! Said it was an adventure and she would feel bad if she didn't try it all. We liked our waiter Leicia so much we wanted him to join us (of course he wouldn't). We were stuffed after the main course and tried to decline dessert, but they had already prepared a special platter of ALL of their desserts for us, all showpieces of culinary art. Special, for THE JOHNSONS. We left dinner feeling special. Like the most important guests in the hotel.
And by the way, the bed there was the most comfortable either my husband or I have ever slept on. I don't know if it was simple exhaustion or the amazing pillows, but we both slept great! He even peeked under the sheet to see what brand mattress it was. "W"! Custom made, of course.
The hotel arranged for a car (adorable Stephanie driving) to take us the few blocks to the Ducks. We really enjoyed the tour. Honestly, I thought it would be a little too wacky for us, I mean, come on, it's a Duck-Truck-Boat thing driven by a cartoon character, but I have to say it was informative as well as entertaining. We got to see all the parts of the city that we would have missed otherwise. The driver whipped that truck-boat behemoth around so fast, talking the whole time, I was sure he would scrape something. He didn't. Everybody on the street waves to you on that thing. We just figured they were waving because WE ARE THE JOHNSONS! Hannah actually wanted to tip the driver with her own money (and she did)!
We spent the rest of that day with the regular tourists in the Experience Music Museum and in the Space Needle with our City Passes. Nobody recognized us as THE JOHNSONS. We were surprised.
The next day we spent about an hour at Pike's Place shopping before we had to return to the hotel to catch our Town Car and Driver(!!) (Dan, another super-nice guy) to take us to meet Deathcab for Cutie. My daughter has loved them for their music and lyrics - she writes songs herself, and she has introduced my husband and I to Deathcab over the last two years or so. It took us a while to get past the name.
We called their manager, Mark Duston when we arrived, and he brought the band out. This was the most thrilling, WOW-ish, surreal, words-fail-me thing! Ben, Chris, Nick and Jason; all so friendly and sweet and REAL - I mean they seemed GENUINE, not rock-star-where-are-the-groupies, just NICE. They all signed the Deathcab t-shirt and CD case we brought and let us take a couple of pictures, they made 5 minutes of small talk, and I KNOW this must be a pain to them, so many people trying to meet them, but I want them to know how important this was. For me to watch my daughter be so happy, in the midst of being dragged through so much - the fear and uncertainty of my illness, for her to just be happy.
Hannah was unable to form a sentence when they asked if there was a song she particularly wanted to hear. She says she just got stuck because everything she thought of, she thought, oh, well, they would play that anyway. So after watching her struggle to get a title out I mentioned MY favorite song.
After our meeting, I called my cousin, who although I was close to growing up, I haven't seen in 14 years. He and his wife live 10 minutes from the park where the concert was. They came over and brought us chairs and blankets, and my husband and Hannah went in and got settled while I got to visit with them. Hannah waited right up in front of the stage and got friendly with other obsessed fans while waiting for the show to start. It was important to her to get that spot.
The show was nothing short of magical - a cool breeze, the sun setting over the mountains in the distance, pine trees in the sky behind the band. My husband and I had our blankets and Hannah had her spot in front of the stage, and near the end of the show they played my song as their first encore, the one I had asked for. I felt like they were playing it for us. Maybe they weren't; maybe it's their standard set list for every show. But it didn't feel that way. I cried through the whole thing. It's about dying. It's something I think about every day. But at that moment I felt more sharply connected to the world, to my husband, to my beautiful daughter who writes songs.
Thank you.
to you, your foundation, to Southwest Airlines, Tom and The W Hotel, Mark, and the four gentlemen of Deathcab, and everyone else who made this impossible trip a reality for us.
Linda Johnson
and family
George
& Hannah
To Those That Helped Make An Amazing Memory,
I can’t seem to find the words to express just how amazing the vacation was. Everything went better then we could have ever imagined. The flights on Air Tran were comfortable and relaxing.The first class upgrades were unexpected and without them I have no idea how I would have gotten my son asleep and quiet for the flight back home. Thank you to all the Air Tran staff. Thank you to MEARS Transportation Service, Lars (our driver) was very helpful and informative. A HUGE thank you to the J.W. Marriott Grand Lakes Hotel and their VIP coordinator, Colleen Gugino, who made our stay a truly magical experience (and spoiled the silly out of my son).Also, thank you to the In-Room Dining and Refreshment Staff for the great gift baskets. Lastly, thank you to all the Disney World Staff and Compassion Partners. Our two days in the parks gave us a lifetime of memories and my son is still talking about it. When he isn’t pretending to fight the evil emperor Zurg with his Buzz Lightyear toy we bought while visiting, he is running around brandishing his sword from The Pirates of The Caribbean attraction while yelling “arrrrr me matties!”.
Thank You With All Our Hearts,
Ashley Devine and T.J. Blalock
Laurie, and Maddie,
I am writing to express my gratitude and appreciation for the way in which you arranged the stay at The Ritz-Carlton for my family and I.
With my wife, Ragan, getting sick each time a reservation had been made and having to then postpone our stay with you, this caused extra work on your behalf with rescheduling the stay to another date. With your kindness and attentiveness to your duty, you went above and beyond for my family even after Ragan had passed on.
The stay at your hotel was incredible. It provided us a chance to unwind and relax after the funeral. It definitely took a weight off my mind for the duration of our stay.
I truly appreciate everything you have done for my family and I in order to make our stay at the Ritz-Carlton happen. The time we spent at your hotel was a once in a lifetime experience, that Ragan would have loved - and to experience that in her memory meant a lot to myself and my kids.
Once again, thank you for everything.
Respectfully yours,
Brian Seely
Dec. 14, 2009
Dear Heidi,
Where do I begin? Heidi we had a wonderful time in New Orleans. What a beautiful grand city she is. Thank you for the Jack and Jill Foundation. I know it must be the beat of your heart. You are an angel to work so hard and bless so many. Thank you for your hand in all the coordinating of our wonderful trip and flights.
We want to thank Nikki Harris at the Sheraton New Orleans. Nikki was like a Guardian Angel. She coordinated all our adventures and checked on us to make sure that there was nothing we were in need of. Her attention to every detail really showed. Because of her we had a wonderful time, awesome experiences, and fell in love with New Orleans.
The staff at Sheraton New Orleans really treated us like Kings & Queens from the moment we arrived. Anytime we called for room service or the concierge desk or for advice in general everyone was very knowledgeable, helpful and courteous. Our room was beyond awesome and far beyond our expectations. What an incredible view we had of the city and the mighty Mississippi!
My husband and sons thoroughly enjoyed the welcome platter that the Sheraton New Orleans provided for us. Especially because it contained Zapp chips! These are their favorite chips in the world. I can’t tell how ecstatic they were when they saw them!
The food at the Roux Bistro was delicious. Some of our favorite New Orleans food was on the menu. And the desserts were yummy. Room service was just as good. The staff was always welcoming and courteous. Great service indeed!
The Aquarium was really fantastic. There were so many interesting and beautiful creatures there. It was relaxing to stroll thru at our leisure. I don’t know whom to thank for it but it was so special and well designed.
The tour on the Steamboat Natchez was a highlight for me, as I have always wanted to travel down the Mississippi on a steamboat ever since I was a child, a dream come true. My men loved the trip too. The tour guide really knew her stuff. And the Calliope was also great, an instrument I dearly love. In fact, on the day we left as I was alone packing in the room I was stopped by it’s music lilting through the air. I was able to see the Natchez from our bedroom window and watch the steam escape as the Calliope played, very cool!
We want to thank Bob at the Snug Harbor Jazz Bistro for a great night. He greeted us and took us straight to our table to enjoy the evening’s performance. It was a side of New Orleans that only the locals get to see. We felt very welcomed.
We didn’t get the name of the manager of Huck Finn Café but we would definitely like to thank her for her hospitality and delicious complimentary lunch. My men chowed down some of the best food in New Orleans. As my son Tres would say, the staff was “uber” kind.
The highlight of our trip was the Super City Grayline Tour. Our guide was OUTSTANDING! Didn’t get his name either. He was a black man in his 50’s probably. What a wonderful teacher he was. He knew everything from the history of New Orleans to the current trends to the locations of everything. He was funny and informative with that Southern charm that New Orleans is famous for. We really fell in love the whole city because of him. There is so much more to it than we ever knew.
Our drivers both from and to the airport were phenomenal another example of New Orleans southern hospitality. They answered all our touristy questions and made us feel like family. They too treated us as VIP’s making sure that we didn’t lift a finger.
Lastly, we’d like to thank the City of New Orleans because we always felt safe and welcome. The trolleys were efficient and fun to ride. They are such a part of the history and charm of this great town. We’re glad they are maintained and their operators are so patient with tourists. The police were present but never obtrusive. That’s not easy in town so large. We are so glad we chose to visit New Orleans.
May the holidays be a blessing to you are your family Heidi. As much a blessing as you have been to us. Happy Hanukkah/Merry Christmas and a Prosperous New Year!
Hope,
Marty, Charlie, Travis and Tres
I want to say a big huge Thank You to everyone who made my trip so wonderful. My family and I had an absolute wonderful time. Thanks so much to all the limo drivers (especially Tony). Thanks to the Hotel management and staff who were all so very nice. Thanks so much to the helicopter driver (sorry I forgot your name, although I will not forget you). A big huge thanks to Tony and Ann Marie for such a wonderful tour. We had a great time and Amy misses the dogs :) Thanks to Theresa at the AMA awards and to Reba for taking her time to meet us. My kids tell there friends at school and then their friends have to ask me because they do not believe the kids that they went to Hollywood, on a helicopter, to Disneyland and met Reba McIntyre all in one weekend. A very huge and special thanks to Heidi who put this all together for us. This wonderful foundation is absolutely doing a great thing. I am so very Thankful to everyone. Please keep me in all of your prayers and I will keep all of you in my prayers.
Charlotte Haney and Family :)
Dear Heidi,
On behalf of the Ramos family, I would like to extend our deepest gratitude for such a wonderful vacation extended to us. Please extend our thanks to the providers of the hotel accommodations. The Marriott Residence Inn was perfect. Their staff is very kind and courteous. Did you know they even afforded us a bigger room complete with kitchenette and 2 bedrooms. To Airtran, thank you for our plane tickets. The flights were on time and your employees were delightful. To the Compassion Partners who provided for our Disney world tickets, thank you so much for this once in a lifetime experience. We were able to visit the Magic Kingdom and Epcot Center.
Our overall experience was excellent. From our shuttle service from Park N Go, and shuttle services from MEARS Transportation, "Ed" who picked us up from the Orlando airport and back, All these services facilitated our travel with so much convenience. Again. we thank you all very much from the bottom of our hearts.
To you Heidi and the Jack & Jill Foundation, we thank you very much. May the Good Lord bless you and your families as you continue to provide these services and great happiness to patients and their loved ones. Special thanks to whoever provided for our meal money, it surely came in handy.
Again, thank you so much for everything. We will be sending the camera with our pictures.
Sincerely,
Anabelle D. Ramos
Hello,
My family and I would like to thank all those who made it possible for us to take our mini vacation to Los Angeles, CA.. We all had a wonderful time! It was nice to get away, but what counts the most was the meaning of the trip and how we all will remember and cherish our time together! It is foudations like this that just make life a little more enjoyable no matter the situation! You are what you make of yourself and a good healthy attitude can take you a long way!! You guys and gals are the best and may the good Lord bless you all. Take Care.
Bosquez family
Just wanted to say thank for the trip to Scottsdale Arizona, The employees at the resort where wonderful to us and made our stay great. The resort was beautiful it was really pretty at night. Also our Driver we had pick us up was very kind If I had to have a driver for the rest of my life to take me places It would be him. He was a gentleman and was very nice to us. I would tell everyone about him and the resort and if they needed anybody to take them to town or anywhere it would be him to take them. Also I would tell everyone to stay at the The Phoenician Resort it was the best. My daughter had fun in the pool and the slide that goes in the pool. And my son had fun at the skateboard park. I enjoyed the message I got. My husband enjoyed the rest at the hotel. We all had a great time. If I could do it again I would and would like to stay longer than 4 days 3 nights. Thank you so much for the fun we had.
The Tipton's
Angels are watching over me and you
Hello Heidi,
We would like to take this opportunity to thank the Jack and Jill Late Stage Cancer Foundation for sending our family to Orlando, Florida. It was very important for Tim to take his daughter, Madison, to Disney World and thanks to Jack and Jill Late Stage Cancer Foundation partnering with; Southwest Airlines, Mears Transportation, the Spring Hill Suites at the Marriott Village at Lake Buena Vista, the Compassion Partners Voucher Program for Disney World and SeaWorld, and Kodak, Tim was able to accomplish this very important goal with his family. We feel very lucky for Tim and Madison to have had this experience together and thank everyone who made this happen for us once again. We can not say enough good things about the organization and hope you can continue to help other families make their dreams come true.
Take care and thanks again.
Sincerely,
Tim, Jen and Madison Cable
We would like to say a special “Thank You” to the Jack and Jill Late Stage Cancer Foundation and everyone else involved in giving us a truly remarkable family experience. Our trip to the Bahamas created memories that will last a lifetime. We would have never been able to do this on our own. You are ALL wonderful people!! If there is ever a time when we can assist any of you, please contact us. May God bless you all!!
The Smith’s
Gaylene Randy Kayla Kristi Katie
I would like to take this time to thank Heidi and all concerned, what you guys did for my family we will never forget. I have always thought of others and wanted to be recognized for my work with foster families. I never thought it would be a diagnosis of cancer that would get me a thank you for all my efforts. You sent so many messages to my children they will always remember the kindness that was given to us. Most of my children had never flown before, something that I could never afford, Thank you. I can go on and on, you have no idea what this trip did to my spirit and my belief that if you live a good and unselfish life you will be rewarded.
Heidi you are the BEST! Please continue doing what you do,(making people happy).
Lots of Love from the Moultrie Family.
To whom it may concern,
I cannot begin to express how much we appreciate the Jack and Jill foundation and everyone that made our trip to Seattle possible. It was more then a vacation for my family and I. It was a wonderful time to bring our family together and create lasting memories. Cancer takes more then your health away from you, it also steals from the ones you hold dear. This vacation gave back to us a sense of purpose and brought us closer together. Besides being pampered like rock stars at the W hotel, everyone that we came across treated us wonderfully. The airline we flew with, Southwest airlines, was wonderful in dealing with my special needs and the needs of my family. It was the first time my son had flown and stewardesses made his trip fun. The driver service that picked us up and back to the airline was prompt, very clean, and so posh. I must also thank the W hotel for the lovely time we spent there. They truly went all out for us. The cute little shaving kit, I love Washington beanie baby and seal puppet my son absolutely adores. The food the W hotel served was out of this world. I have never ate so well. They also were so kind and courteous to us, it made us feel like was were on top of the world. The city passes enabled us to travel around the city and see wonderful sites, like the space needle. My thanks and gratitude to everyone that made our vacation possible. Thank you for the gift of this trip and all it entailed. The Jack and Jill foundation I want to especially thank for providing us with all this for us. You helped this terrible and trying time in our lives be happier and full of purpose. It is easy to lose yourself in the wonderful town of Seattle with all its wonderful and colorful sites and sounds.
With much love and appreciation,
Veronica Goodman and family
Heidi and the Jack and Jill Foundation:
Words cannot possibly express the thanks our family wants to pass on to you all. We had a wonderful trip to Hilton Head. Everything about the weekend was beyond our wildest expectations. We truly had a WOW experience. Even though Michelle was not feeling well when we arrived, everyone we met in the course of the weekend made us feel special. We are so thankful for the memories we made and the hospitality we experienced. Our hope is that when we are past this terrible time we are going through, we will be able to help other families experience some of the joy have given us.
Thank you.
The Southerns
To the Staff at La Paloma,
we had a fabulous trip! We have never been treated so importantly before. Just having a driver at the airport (Heather, who was wonderful), being greeted by a crowd applauding us (Bill Petrella, Richard Brooks, and Deb stand out-you all had such joy on your faces, not pity, but excitement for us) then going the Presidential Suite-which was incredible, we were already in awe. Then there were lovely gifts waiting in our room, beverages, and fun snacks, and we went to a lovely dinner at Azul. We have never seen a true southwest desert so the next day the jeep tour was a big hit. Our driver Bob knew every plant and five things you can do with it. He could spot a small, brown animal hiding in a bush at 50ft. J Bar that night was really good, and the live music made it extra special.
Having a Cabana at the pool each day was also a first for us. We loved having our little place and the staff was exceptional. Brittney made us feel like royalty and the fruit plates each day were delightful. The heat was a bit much for Peter the first day at the pool so the next day we first ate lunch at Sabino's and sat at the bar with the misters on our back-it was heavenly. For entertainment, we watched the Iowa/Arizona fans brag about their teams. Our massages at the Red Door Salon were fantastic, Peter said she knew just how to treat his special needs. Judy greeted us with such warmth and excitement and extended to us even more gifts. Our kids golf lessons went very well. Chris had never had one before and picked it up right away. Courtney (our 15yo), said her instructor looked like Matt Damon and the guy driving the cart looked like Brad Pitt so she had a great time.
Dinner at Fleming's was amazing. Each bite was a delight and because you had told them that we were important, they sent over several appetizers and side dishes. I'm sure they would have sent more desserts but we were so full we only had two.
During our entire stay, everywhere we went, every staff member from the cart driver to the pool waitress, knew who we were. I don't know how you did it, but it was impressive. What also really impressed us was that we did not feel pitied, only that your people wanted to make sure we had a great time because they felt care and compassion for us.
Going home on Sunday we were a different family. Sharing such a dream together certainly makes us bond in a different way. Heather gave us more wonderful gifts, including a glass cactus that will always remind us of our WOW experience. I sat by our son Chris on the way home and he and I had more fun together than we have in years. I drive him down to college on Thursday so the timing was perfect.
We have already thanked Heidi at Jack & Jill, if there is anyone who would benefit from our story, please feel free to call us. When blessed this much, it makes us want to bless others and we will! We have already talked about when we can come back, I know our children will always consider your resort as very special to them.
Gratefully, Kim and Peter
PS (from Peter): Here are some of the words our family used during the trip... first, to describe the people and place: "hospitable, sincere, authentic, gracious, talented, thoughtful, caring, knowledgeable"... secondly, to describe how we felt and its impact on us: "in awe, joyful, humbled, thankful, blessed, grateful, a cherished time as a family, rested, rejuvenated, encouraged, relaxed, acquainted (with desert, Tucson, golf, the best food, the best resort)". We will continue to find strength from the authentic kindness which you so generously extended to us. Our prayer is that God blesses each of you and your loved ones.
Dear Heidi, and the whole Jack & Jill Foundation,
Words alone cannot express our most sincere gratitude for the awesome trip of a lifetime that you sent us on, it was beyond fantastic. It has been so long since we had gotten away, and yet this time, with the children being older, we were on vacation together, as we've never been before. The room at the hotel was amazing, when we arrived there was a hand-written note from the general manager of the Loews to us, with a nice bottle of wine, a tray of delicious cookies, and another plate with cheese, crackers & fruit!! with the most incredible view of the Pacific Ocean, and the Santa Monica Pier right off of our room's balcony. While we were there they had a light show on the beach called "Glow" and that was an extra bonus, as all the artists that put on the show stayed at the same hotel. Universal Studios was great, and I went on many rides with my kids (that's something that hasn't happened in a long time!) The tour of LA was equally as great as Universal Studios, we met a bus load of very nice people, and had a wonderful time visiting Beverly Hills & Hollywood. Both were places I thought I'd never see. So Thank You again so very much for a vacation that we will never forget, we were treated like royalty where ever we went, and I can't thank you enough for the memories I made with my family, those were priceless. And I mean that from the bottom of my heart. I will be sending you our pictures on cd so you can see what a great time we had as well. What you are doing for cancer patients and their families is truly wonderful, thank you for doing what you do. And lastly, Heidi, thank you for getting it all rolling, making it all happen, getting us our tickets, and sending us on our way. You are an amazing women. Thanks to all of you there for doing what you do helping others, it is so beautiful and inspiring.
With Love and Gratitude, we Thank You,
Robin, Jim, Katie & Jimmy Rinehimer
Heidi,
I just wanted to let you know that I received the beautiful Kodak book. I will cherish this for the rest of my life. I look at it often and reflect on the wonderful time our family had on Kiawah Island. When I was in the hospital, not knowing if I was going to make it or not, my thoughts were of the wonderful time my family had together. Many wonderful memories were made. Memories that would not have been possible without you and the Jack and Jill Foundation. My family and I are forever grateful to you.
It has been a hard couple of months since we got back from our trip. I have had surgery and the chemo that I am on has really taken a toll on my body. It seems to be shrinking the cancer, but destroying my blood cells. I had to have a blood transfusion last week. Something that scared me, but it was not too bad. Through all the dr. visits, tests, hospital stays, etc., my family has been with me. I am so blessed.
Love,
Debra Turner
We would like to thank everyone who was involved in the arrangements with our trip to Cancun. We had the trip of a lifetime and created wonderful memories for all of us.
Jack and Jill LSC Foundation-Heidi put everything together and helped us find a vacation that worked for our family. When she called, we thought it was a dream. It was-one that became a reality. What a wonderful thing the foundation does.
AirTran-Thank you for providing the flights to Cancun and back. We found everyone to be friendly and helpful and our flights were on time-or ahead. Before our flight #40 gate C21, from Atlanta to Cancun on Saturday June 26, one person stood out. Darren helped us with paperwork, and when it was time, came, got Patti ,in her wheelchair,and us, and helped us on the plane. He also had a very nice conversation with our son Eli.
Starwood Hotels-Westin Resort and Spa Cancun- Thank you for a spectacular place to stay. Our suite was beyond anything we could have dreamed of, along with the view. The staff was truly friendly and helpful-all of them. Martin Silva and Jorge Garcia had quite a time planned for us during our stay. Jorge took over in making us feel at home and like family. He helped us with all our needs or sent us to the right people. When Eli and I went on an adventure, he stayed with Patti when she was not at the spa with Maggy. Maggy and Patti got along great and had laughs even though Patti does not speak Spanish or Maggy English. Carlos, the Restaurant Captain, made sure our eating experiences were as great as could be.When it was storming and we had trouble fnding a way into the restaurant with Patti in a wheelchair, Jorge and Carlos made it work. Leo, in travel, worked with Jorge to find adventures that fit us.We had a wonderful time at them all. Enedino was our driver, and more. He met us at the airport, took us shopping, and back to the airport. He always called us by name- making us feel at home. When you leave your hotel you usually get a good bye, we got hugs from Jorge and Enedino-what a wonderful feeling.
Because of all of you, for a short time, we got to not forget what is going on in our lives, but put it to the side a little and have a wonderful time together.Thank you from our hearts.
Dan, Patti, and Eli Kautz
Heidi,
I would like to say THANK YOU so much too all involved with our wonderful trip to Florida.
Southwest Airlines was wonderful to fly with. All of the flight attendants were friendly and helpful, both on the trip down and back. On the return trip, my oldest daughter had some problems with her ears popping and draining. The flight attendants were very concerned and called for a doctor to make sure she was alright. They checked on her periodically the whole trip home. All of our children thoroughly enjoyed their first time flying (except for the ear problem!). We will definitely recommend Southwest Airlines to anyone we know who will be traveling.
Another big thank you to USA Transportation. They were there waiting for us when we got off the plane. They helped us load our luggage and get situated in the very nice vehicle. The driver was very friendly and courteous.
Also, a huge THANK YOU to the Westin Diplomat Resort and Spa. Our stay there was absolutely wonderful! We could not have hoped or dreamed for a better experience. Everything about our entire stay there was great. Our whole family had an awesome time. It was the perfect vacation for all of us. Words can never express our gratitude for our whole experience. It truly was a dream come true.
Finally, THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU to the Jack and Jill Foundation for making all of this possible for our family. You will never know how greatful we all are for the experience you provided us with. Your foundation is truly a gift from God.
Thank You,
Shannon, Clinton Sr., and Clinton Jr Stewart
Val, Tori, and Kade Barnard
Dear Heidi,
I'm sorry my reply about our trip is late, Mr. Purdy has had some complications to Chemotherapy lately and I have been busy taking care of him. Please accept my late thank you note.
Where to start! Our trip to Seaside, Fl. was great! Our first day, Mandy,Arden,Debbie and Michael greeted us at the beach house, they were so nice and made us feel at home. Our sons Quenton, and Nathan had bikes delivered to the house, they rode them all over Seaside, they really enjoyed them. We had dinner at the Great Southern Cafe Friday, it was great! Saturday morning Debbie met us at the Modica Market for breakfast, afterwords she gave us a tour of Seaside, it was interesting, this was one of my favorite outings! She also gave us a beautiful gift, a book of Views of Seaside, she also gave us a gift certificate to the Seaside stores, the boys thought this was great! It was great to relax at the house and focus on just having a good time!, we sure needed this. We had lunch at Pickles, we even had fried pickles! Dinner was at Barefoot BBQ, this was one of the best BBQ sandwiches we had ever eaten, we all gave it a10! I think our favorite outing was a the ceramic shop, Fired Up Pottery, Amy was very helpful! We made a ceramic plate with my husbands and own hand prints on it along with all the children's thumbprints, it is on our mantle today. We even had family portraits taken in the evening around the house, it made us really feel special. Dinner at Bud and Ally's was superb, the atmosphere and food were great. All of this was certainly a WOW experience. Heidi Cohen had everything planned and waiting for our arrival. We will never forget our trip! This trip certainly made memories for our family.
The Purdy Family
Heidi,
I never got the chance to properly thank the Jack and Jill Foundation for the wonderful trip you provided for The Mawdsley Family. It could not have come soon enough. After arriving home from the getaway, Michael took a turn for the worse. He went to be with the Lord September 23, 2010. He was a great Husband, Father and Friend. I thank you so much for a WOW experience but also a last vacation for our family together. I am trying to get the word out here in Paducah about your organization.
Again, Thank You from the bottom of my heart!
Ashlee Mawdsley wife of Michael Mawdsley
October 16, 2010
To everyone involved in the Fordham Family WOW experience.
WOW! What an incredible foundation that is so passionate about making memorable moments for cancer patients and their families. A special thanks to my dear sister who is a social worker and has dedicated a majority of her career to cancer patients and their personal needs for referring me to Jack and Jill Foundation. To my family who have run marathons and dedicated walks to this cause. Of course, my family was devastated when we received new of my late stage cancer diagnosis. The Jack and Jill Late Stage Cancer Foundation, all the generous corporate and private donors allowed our family a relaxing, memorable vacation from the devastating effects of cancer.
Thanks you Heidi Cohen and staff for arranging every detail of our experience.
To see the excitement and joy on my son's face was so touching on the day our itinerary arrived. My son was so thrilled. He was elated to have his own room joining our suite at the Sheraton Hotel. "Awesome, I'm going to lock you out and call my friends." "That's me". "I'm serious."
Thank you Park 'N Fly and Tony Paaiz for your generous complimentary parking certificate for up to 10 days at the Atlanta Airport.
First, we arrived at the Atlanta Airport for our flight to LAX. Thank you Air Tran for providing our roundtrip flight. The staff of Air Tran was wonderful and accommodated all of our needs. My son enjoyed seeing the meteor crater and the gorgeous snow capped mountains and all the beautiful topography from the airplane window seat. So fitting since he is in sixth grade studying earth science.
My sincere thanks to Dream Limousine, Edward and staff. We were so spoiled and enjoyed our luxurious transportation around Los Angeles. I sincerely missed you when 1 returned home.
The Sheraton Staff catered to our every need. Thank you for the incredible service. My son was asking if people live in hotels and was ready to take up permanent residence. I think he has watched too many episodes of The Suite Life of Zack and Cody. The food provided was incredible every day, and was so fresh and healthy. We enjoyed the attached Bally's Fitness Center and Shopping Mall with a Macy's.
Our trip to Universal Studios was incredible. Thank you Dream Limousine for transporting us in style. My son loved the thrilling rides (Simpsons, Jurassic Park, Mummy Ride). The shows were incredible. The House of Horrors got a thrill out of listening to my screams. We loved the Studio Tour. When we approached the line, we had purchased 2 front of the line passes and would take turns since there were 3 of us, the attendant directed us to the Front of the Line and I stated that we only had 2 front of the line passes. She handed me a Front of the Line pass and stated "You deserve to be in Front of the Line." Ingrid and Bob were our studio tour guides and were very knowledgeable and entertaining. We loved seeing the studio sets, Wysteria Lane, Norman Bates, the earthquake recreation, stunt cars, World of Wars plane crash. The tour was amazing.
Eddie with VIP tours of LA was so much fun. He was deliteful. We loved Venice Beach, Santa Monica, Beverly Hills, and Rodeo Drive. The Farmers Market and our and Eddies favorite—Johnny Rockets for an amazing hamburger and juke box favorites for 5 cents. We loved seeing the Walk of Fame, Chinese Theater, and they were setting up for a premiere of the Movie Red. We ended our day by taking the Los Angeles transit bus to the Santa Monica Pier. My son loved the roller coaster over the ocean, The Bubba Gump Shrimp Company, and we were able to watch the Braves and Giants Game.
Finally, we are so grateful to have been the receipients of such a generous gift. We will always treasure this experience and it's the memories that children need to cope with this devastating disease. Thanks for Kodak Memory Book. It's a gift that my family will always treasure.
Sincerely,
Tom, Anne, and my precious 11 year old son Zach
To Everyone at the Jack & Jill Foundation, Southwest Airlines and Tanque Verde Resort,
The Doane family lived a real life WOW! experience last week in Tucson - a unique, memorable getaway that allowed the five of us to enjoy time with each other away from all of our day to day distractions.
Every bit of our trip ran smoothly and everyone we encountered at the airline and the resort were friendly, supportive and welcoming.
Larry greeted us at the Tucson airport with cowboy hat and boots and drove us to the gorgeous Tanque Verde Ranch where we spent time together without TV or the internet, riding horses, playing tennis and board games, swimming and tanning and eating delicious meals. I can’t tell you the last time the five of us had so many consecutive meals together as a family – it was terrific! With three active teenagers - being together for extended periods of time as a family is less and less common, which made this experience even more precious. Rick drove us back to the airport, stopping for one last photo by the resort sign at the entrance to the ranch.
All the wait staff, the programming team, the instructors for our riding lessons and watercolor class were wonderful people who all contributed to making our trip a once in a lifetime memory packed adventure.
We will cherish the memories of this trip forever.
Heidi – you make all you do appear effortless, that’s a real gift – thank you for everything!
Sincerely,
Jim, Patti, Jimmy, Maddi and Patrick Doane
November 7, 2010
To the Jack and Jill Foundation,
I would like to thank you for this awesome vacation that allowed me to spend time with my family in the midst of my process. The WOW Experience was much more than I expected. You thought of every detail to ensure that everything went smooth from the time we left Atlanta until we arrived back at Hartsfield Airport. This was truly a once in a lifetime experience for the family. My family and I have had some cloudy days this year since I was diagnosed, but because of you we were able to get some sunshine through the Jack and Jill Foundation. I have learned to value time like never before. The time that my family and I shared this past week was priceless. The memories will always be with us and we will always cherish every minute of our trip.
Heidi I would like to especially thank you for your efficiency and professionalism. Whatever you spoke out of your mouth came to past. Thank you for your advice and helping us to make the best choices. You are definitely the right person for this job.
I would like to also thank all of the in-kind donors and partners of this foundation for contributing in being a blessing to my family and I. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
I pray for a special blessing to all who played a part in giving me this gift to share with my loving family.
Forever Grateful,
Kendrick L. Meredith
Dearest John & Heidi,
Thank you. Thank you, thank you for the most awesome once in a life time trip to Hollywood! Guest services everywhere we went was AAA+.
John, I would like to start with giving you our most heart-felt thanks and deepest appreciation for the ingenious idea of taking a thought and a dream and making dreams come true for us and so many other people (families). We will be eternally grateful to you and your wife for co-founding the Jack & Jill Foundation and continually striving to provide the absolute best holiday experiences during the most crucial stages of cancer survival.
Heidi, we can't thank you enough for putting together an awesome package complete with top of the line service everywhere we went. We appreciate you working tirelessly beyond the last minute to continually ensure that we were in good hands, having a good time and adding more surprises to our already awesome dream package. As I've told you before, you are an angel!
Next, we would like to thank Southwest Airlines for an efficient and timely flight to and fro. The flight attendants and pilots were very professional, kind, courteous, informative and even funny at times when conveying information to passengers. I can see now why Southwest has grown so quickly and is a preferred airline for passengers of all types. The views from our seats were spectacular. I shot great pictures on the return flight. Thank you again for your generosity in providing us with airline tickets to start and finish a dream vacation.
Our next heartfelt thanks and applause goes to Bruce Gorelick, GM, Stephanie Van Ostrander, Sr. Event Manager, and Kendall of the Renaissance Hollywood Hotel & Spa. From the moment we arrived to the time were enjoying our last meal, you all were fantastic! I don't know if I can even list all of the WOW moments but I'll try: Greeting us as we arrived with our driver from the airport, escorting us to the most spectacular, awesome, luxurious penthouse suite we could never have imagined, putting our name on a star under the beautiful lights, the expansive welcome package (spread) that awaited us upon arrival and each day we were there, (You out did yourselves with all of the snacks and treats. We especially enjoyed the cheese & fruit trays each day.) We asked and you gave even more. My personal favorite was the last night that we were their, upon our return from the AMA's, you had waiting for us a spread that included my favorite treat - chocolate covered strawberries. Adding to that a personal touch of keepsakes - the LA Dodgers ball cap for Christian personalized and a copy of "Hollywood Then and Now". Another of my personal most enjoyable moments was 1) Heidi calling me and asking if I would like to pick out a spa package and 2) actually being able to enjoy the entire nearly 3 hour heavenly experience. Michelle gave me the most wonderfully relaxing facial and Eve (WOW!) gave me the absolute best body massage I have ever had. After the flight out and all of the pinned-up anxiety anticipating what was to come, the spa package was the medicine I needed to help me relax and enjoy the rest of the ride. Thank you Michelle and Eve for attending to my every need and want at SpaLuce (providing me with more fruits, nuts, tea, sugar and water to selecting items that I could take home to continue living the experience of the spa). Thank you Stephanie for offering what you already knew would be a luxuriously unforgettable experience, and for checking on us during our stay and allowing me to check in with you while you were away from work. Bruce your staff is tops in our book! They are a testament to your professional talents, hard work and dedication to providing the best customer service available. Give yourselves a generous pat on the back.
We would also like to thank the housekeeping staff for their attention to detail during our stay and their smiles and greetings along the way. Thank you to the Twist chefs, servers and wait staff. We enjoyed the wide selection of delectable foods available and the service that was provided while dining in the restaurant as well as the timely room service. The room service personnel were especially attentive to our needs and wants. Kudos to you!
A special thanks also goes to the A List Limousine and Transportation Service. Eli Gabay, thanks for your timely professional and courteous service. Marvin Vick, thank you for your timely, professional and courteous service as well. We appreciate your pointing out points of interest, delightful conversation to and fro and, giving good direction as to how we should navigate L.A. traffic.
Toni Riccio of Elite Adventure Tours, we can't say thank you enough for providing us with the most unforgettable spectacular views on our tour in and around Hollywood. You were full of surprises from the moment we first spoke. You certainly did not disappoint. Including Micah and his purely delightful magic performance as part of the services you provided to us was a real treat. Including Christian as a co-performer was even more special. I don't know how you knew that Christian would get such a kick out of meeting a magician, having a personal performance done especially for his (and our) enjoyment and actually being a part of the performance. Micah was a very welcomed surprise to us all. Our hats are off to you.
A huge thank you also goes out to Universal Studios for the first class "front of the line" tickets and passes. We thoroughly enjoyed the tours, shows, performances, rides and tasty treats while at the park. We had a blast!
Additionally, the piece de resistance, The American Music Awards. Thank you, thank you, thank you Dick Clark Productions. The seats were excellent, the entertainment was fabulous, and the once in a lifetime opportunity to be a part of it all was irreplaceable. Some of our favorite entertainers were performing and that was the icing on the cake.
Thank you in advance Kodak Eastman for providing us with a keepsake album of our pictures and video. These photos will be treasured by our family, friends and healthcare providers for years to come. Cindy Tinker you were the catalyst that made this chain reaction come to fruition. We love you and thank you for knowing just what to do.
I know there are other providers that we didn't have personal contact with who also collaborated with the Jack & Jill Foundation to make all of these wonderful things happen for us and to you we also say THANK YOU! We will always have these excellent memories in our hearts and minds that were captured on film thanks to all of you working in concert with one another to make it all come together. We are hopeful that we will have another opportunity to return to California and enjoy other things that we simply didn't have enough time to get to.
One last thank you to Stephanie for suggesting The Grill Restaurant to us on Saturday. The food was delicious and very well prepared. I especially enjoyed the Butternut squash soup (soothing and very tasty), the well prepared cuts of steak that Ray and I savored and to finish - the "Big Carrot Cake". Christian really enjoyed the Chicken Marsala dinner. We were all delightfully stuffed when we emerged from the table.
May you be blessed and be a blessing!
Rosann, Raymond & Christian Wilson
Dearest Jack and Jill Foundation:
Thank you so much for the fabulous “WOW” Experience. The trip was amazing from start to finish! Sometimes in life we have experiences which are much worse than you can imagine and sometimes things are so much better. We really saw this lesson during our trip to Useppa.
Just days before we were due to leave, Ian was in the hospital. We did not expect that we would ever be able to make such a trip. However, your careful and thoughtful planning made it all possible. We loved meeting the lovely hosts and staff. Everyone was so kind and helpful. The kids especially loved the limo ride and plane trip. To see their eyes light up and watch their joy was so uplifting for Ian and me.
I watched Ian’s condition improve over our stay in the lovely warm climate. He even smiled from the sheer happiness on the boat ride. During the day, I felt him really come back to us as a family. I was given many priceless opportunities to enjoy the kids 1:1 and that was overdue. I loved getting to be a mom again and not just a caregiver.
We will always treasure our memories of the warm people, beautiful setting, and incredible experiences. Please forward our deepest thanks to everyone who helped make this experience possible. We will remember to always look for the great experiences in life even when faced with the hardest. We will never forget this wonderful trip.
Love,
The Nobles
We would like to thank the Jack & Jill Late Stage Cancer Foundation for the amazing trip to Orlando. We are so grateful for the opportunity because this was something we could have never been able to do.
Thank you to the generous help of Southwest Airlines, Marriott Hotels, Compassion Partners, Mears Transportation, Disney, Universal Studios and SeaWorld and anyone else who has contributed to help make our WOW Experience take place. We had such an amazing time – lots of precious memories to hold onto. This trip gave us the chance to have "family" time without the daily stresses of life and cancer and I truly appreciate it.
Thank you so much,
The Riell Family
Regina, Chris, Travis & Hannah
January 10, 2011
Dear Heidi,
I am so sorry this letter has taken almost a month to compose and send. It seems that since we returned from our trip to Dallas things have been unbelievably hectic, especially with the holidays.
Where do I ever begin to tell you what an incredible gift the trip to Dallas was for our family? Our boys have not stopped talking about the fun we had, and Curtis, Mom, and I all have special memories that we hold dear.
The people at Southwest Airlines were so generous in allowing our family to fly to Dallas. The boys loved the flight and the staff was so courteous and helpful. When the weather and our health made traveling home difficult Southwest graciously rearranged our travel plans. We are so thankful for their kindness.
The staff at the Westin Stonebrier made us feel so welcomed and pampered. The hotel itself is beautiful and our rooms were lavish. Each and every person we came into contact with went above and beyond to ensure our comfort and pleasure, even sending up a care package when we became ill. Our meals were magnificent and the dining staff so kind. I cannot begin to tell you how special our family was made to feel during our stay or how grateful we are to the staff.
We so enjoyed our time at the zoo and the aquarium and appreciate very much those places gifting tickets to our family. The boys are still talking about petting and feeding the giraffe at the zoo and the penguins were a huge hit at the aquarium. We continue to be amazed at the kindness and generosity of others.
Our trip to Six Flags was most definitely the favorite of our middle son, Preston. We were treated so well during our visit there, including the graciousness of our wonderful guide, Dave. He was so good with our boys and made their visit so much more enjoyable, even riding the rides with them and allowing them to be in the front of waiting lines. Dave went out of his way to see our family had fun, setting up VIP meetings with the characters and finding rides the boys would enjoy. We all loved the sweatshirts that were given to us and it was such an extra special treat.
The time at the Cowboys’ game was amazing! We were all excited about watching pregame from the sidelines and seeing the players and coaches “up front”. The seats we were given in the club level were phenomenal. We never expected to be treated to such an unforgettable visit.
When I think back on this trip I will forever be grateful to all the people who gave so generously to give our family such luxury and memories. Seeing the boys enjoy such special experiences with their father is a treasure I will hold forever in my heart. Being able to see the joy in my husband’s eyes as his boys laughed and delighted in each new event was priceless to me, as I know it was to him. Having my mother there to help and share in each memory was an extra special gift to each one of us. Words would never be able to express the meaning of this trip to us, the gratitude we feel, or the memories we treasure. Saying thank you seems more than insignificant. We could never fully express our hearts. Thank you so much for gifting this trip to our family. Thank you to each of the donors who made this possible. Thank you for allowing us the opportunity to experience such kindness and luxury and affording us such special time as a family. All six of will forever be grateful.
With Love and Appreciation,
Curtis, Karma, Linda, Parker, Preston, and Pierce
Dear Heidi,
First I would like to thank you for all of your hard work to make this trip possible for my family. We truly appreciate it. You will never know how much it means to us that you and the Jack and Jill Foundation helped us to go on our trip to San Diego. Since we went at the beginning of December we told our boys that it was a Christmas present and that because of it they wouldn't get a lot of other presents. We didn't want to have to tell them that we had no money to buy a lot of presents. Our boys said that was the best Christmas present ever, and the best Christmas ever, so not only did you give us a wonderful vacation away from all of our worries but you also helped to give my boys there best Christmas ever. Thank you so much for everything you do words can not express how grateful we are to you and the Jack and Jill foundation. You have given my children memories that will last a lifetime.
Seaworld,
Thank you so much for the tickets that you donated to the Jack and Jill foundation for my family. My boys Drake age 9, and Tanner age 6 absolutely loved it!! They said it was the best time ever. They still haven't stopped talking about it and it has been a month. They loved Shamu and my youngest boy will still go around the house with his stuffed Shamu and say Shamu Shamu!! then put his hands in the air and then down and then take shamu and make him "splash" everyone. I would also like to thank Laura for giving us our tour. She was absolutely wonderful. She answered all of our boys questions and even took them to see the octopus (which wasn't on the tour) because they asked to see it. Thank you also for the bags of treats for my boys they love them!! They use the plastic shamu in the tub and sleep with the stuffed one. It was so wonderful for you to give us tickets to get in, lunch, a private backstage tour, tickets for the rides, and the goody bags for my boys when they were on the tour. This was a wonderful experience for my family!! Words can not express how much fun we had or how thankful we are to you.
First I would like to thank you for all of your hard work to make this trip possible for my family. We truly appreciate it. You will never know how much it means to us that you and the Jack and Jill Foundation helped us to go on our trip to San Diego. Since we went at the beginning of December we told our boys that it was a Christmas present and that because of it they wouldn't get a lot of other presents. We didn't want to have to tell them that we had no money to buy a lot of presents. Our boys said that was the best Christmas present ever, and the best Christmas ever, so not only did you give us a wonderful vacation away from all of our worries but you also helped to give my boys there best Christmas ever. Thank you so much for everything you do words can not express how grateful we are to you and the Jack and Jill foundation. You have given my children memories that will last a lifetime.
Seaworld,
Thank you so much for the tickets that you donated to the Jack and Jill foundation for my family. My boys Drake age 9, and Tanner age 6 absolutely loved it!! They said it was the best time ever. They still haven't stopped talking about it and it has been a month. They loved Shamu and my youngest boy will still go around the house with his stuffed Shamu and say Shamu Shamu!! then put his hands in the air and then down and then take shamu and make him "splash" everyone. I would also like to thank Laura for giving us our tour. She was absolutely wonderful. She answered all of our boys questions and even took them to see the octopus (which wasn't on the tour) because they asked to see it. Thank you also for the bags of treats for my boys they love them!! They use the plastic shamu in the tub and sleep with the stuffed one. It was so wonderful for you to give us tickets to get in, lunch, a private backstage tour, tickets for the rides, and the goody bags for my boys when they were on the tour. This was a wonderful experience for my family!! Words can not express how much fun we had or how thankful we are to you.
Southwest Airlines,
Thank you so much for the airline tickets for my family and myself to San Diego. Without you donating these tickets to the Jack and Jill foundation our trip would not of been possible.
That was the first time that my husband and 2 boys have ever flown. They had a great time, my boys had a blast they loved it. My youngest boy, Tanner, even says he wants to be a pilot when he grows up! All of your employees were very nice, from the ladies that helped us with our tickets, to the airline attendants, to the pilots that waved and talked to my boys. Our plane rides were wonderful experiences, Thank you!
San Diego Zoo,
Thank you for the tickets that you donated to the Jack and Jill foundation for my family. My boys, Drake age 9 and Tanner age 6, have wanted to go to your zoo for a few years ever since they saw a show on tv that talked about it. We had a wonderful time! Drake loved the Panda Bears he said they were so cool!! Tanner loved the Polar Bears he said they were awesome. They even had to get t-shirt with the panda or polar bear on them. They also loved all the squished penny machines, they collect them so every time they saw a machine they each had to get a different penny. The are still talking about our trip to this day. Your zoo is gorgeous!! Thank you again.
Helga at the Sheraton Hotel and Marina,
Thank you so much for the hotel accommodations, they were more then I could have ever imagined. Your hotel is absolutely beautiful. I loved the view from my hotel balcony I would go out there before bed each night and then go out there first thing every morning. The pool was also wonderful, The boys had to swim in it before we left so they swam in it all morning on Sunday, they loved it!! The marina is awesome, we walked around it several time the boys loved looking at all of the different boats especially the pirate ship. Everyone that works they is so kind and helpful. The food was delishes. The bellmen, Duncan and Gabriel, that you had as our drives were so nice. It was as if we had known each other forever, they were so friendly and we talked the entire time they were driving to and from each place. They also would stop and talk to us if they saw us in the hall. Your wait staff at the restaurants were also very friendly, they even remember us the next day when we would go down to eat again. Helga- I would like to personally thank you for all of your help and kindness. It was wonderful to meet you and to have you to help us. Also thank you so much for the wonderful fruit basket and the goodie basket for the boys they loved them. Thank you so much, I will never forget your kindness.
Thank you again Heidi, I will never forget what you have done for me and my family. The Jack and Jill Foundation, you, and everyone else that was evolved have truly given my family a WOW experience and we will never forget your kindness, generosity, and hard work.
Thank you,
Amanda, Kevin, Drake, and Tanner Jones
Thank you so much for the airline tickets for my family and myself to San Diego. Without you donating these tickets to the Jack and Jill foundation our trip would not of been possible.
That was the first time that my husband and 2 boys have ever flown. They had a great time, my boys had a blast they loved it. My youngest boy, Tanner, even says he wants to be a pilot when he grows up! All of your employees were very nice, from the ladies that helped us with our tickets, to the airline attendants, to the pilots that waved and talked to my boys. Our plane rides were wonderful experiences, Thank you!
San Diego Zoo,
Thank you for the tickets that you donated to the Jack and Jill foundation for my family. My boys, Drake age 9 and Tanner age 6, have wanted to go to your zoo for a few years ever since they saw a show on tv that talked about it. We had a wonderful time! Drake loved the Panda Bears he said they were so cool!! Tanner loved the Polar Bears he said they were awesome. They even had to get t-shirt with the panda or polar bear on them. They also loved all the squished penny machines, they collect them so every time they saw a machine they each had to get a different penny. The are still talking about our trip to this day. Your zoo is gorgeous!! Thank you again.
Helga at the Sheraton Hotel and Marina,
Thank you so much for the hotel accommodations, they were more then I could have ever imagined. Your hotel is absolutely beautiful. I loved the view from my hotel balcony I would go out there before bed each night and then go out there first thing every morning. The pool was also wonderful, The boys had to swim in it before we left so they swam in it all morning on Sunday, they loved it!! The marina is awesome, we walked around it several time the boys loved looking at all of the different boats especially the pirate ship. Everyone that works they is so kind and helpful. The food was delishes. The bellmen, Duncan and Gabriel, that you had as our drives were so nice. It was as if we had known each other forever, they were so friendly and we talked the entire time they were driving to and from each place. They also would stop and talk to us if they saw us in the hall. Your wait staff at the restaurants were also very friendly, they even remember us the next day when we would go down to eat again. Helga- I would like to personally thank you for all of your help and kindness. It was wonderful to meet you and to have you to help us. Also thank you so much for the wonderful fruit basket and the goodie basket for the boys they loved them. Thank you so much, I will never forget your kindness.
Thank you again Heidi, I will never forget what you have done for me and my family. The Jack and Jill Foundation, you, and everyone else that was evolved have truly given my family a WOW experience and we will never forget your kindness, generosity, and hard work.
Thank you,
Amanda, Kevin, Drake, and Tanner Jones
Hello Heidi,
I wanted to take the chance to thank you and everyone that had a part in our family trip to San Diego.
Southwest treated us real well and had a wheelchair for me at each stop on our way. They allowed me to pre-board, which made it easier to get a seat.
It worked out nicely to meet Chantel in Las Vegas.
When we arrived at the Westin we were treated like royalty. We were greeted by Alyssa and her staff. All of the staff at the Westin were friendly and helpful, they all knew who we were and took very good care of us. Tim and Alyssa went over our itinerary, which was full of great adventures.
Our room was spacious with a dining area, living room and an adjoining room for the boys as well as an adjoining room for the girls. Our suite was upstairs, It had a beautiful view of the city, a large jacuzzi tub and king size bed. The beds were heavenly. It was difficult to get out of the bed after getting in. We loved the room, it was very comfortable.
The food was incredible! From the smoothies that they greeted us with to our last meal, it was all delicious. The menu was fantastic. Everyone could find something that they liked. One evening we were given an unbelievable meal cooked by the chef and delivered to our room. It was a feast with steak and seafood, salads and vegetables. The deserts were beautiful and tasted as good as they looked. We all filled ourselves to the brim and still had a lot of food left. Thanks to chef Andy for such a great dining experience.
We were able to take a Trolley Tour around the city of San Diego. We had a great tour guide Kaye. He was funny and told some great stories of the area. This was a great way for us to see what San Diego had to offer in a short period of time. It allowed us to know what we wanted to go back and see. We enjoyed our time on the trolley.
Sea World filled our day with fun and lots of new things that we had not done. Carol spent a couple of hours with us. She showed us sharks that were getting ready to hatch and we were able to touch a shark. My favorite part was being able to feed the dolphins, touch them, and give them a kiss. We also were able to see and touch penguins and feed the sea turtles. Carol showed us many new things at Sea World. She is very knowledgeable. She gave us ideas and suggestions on how to spend the remainder of our day. We had an amazing day at Sea World.
We had an opportunity of a lifetime by being able to tour the USS Albuquerque. We were told by a couple of former navy men that this was an experience that very few have an opportunity to do. Marc was a great host and tour guide. He allowed us to look through the periscope, sit at the control panels and see the training torpedoes. We were able to see all of the areas that were not restricted. It was so interesting to see what life would be like on a submarine. It gives us a whole new respect for those who serve our country, in the Navy. A special thank you goes out to all of them.
The tour of the bay was very relaxing. It had been a cold day and it was nice to be inside with a cup of hot chocolate and to see the south end of the bay. Our guide had also served in the navy and as we passed by many ships he was able to tell us about each of them. This gave us a whole new seaside view of the city.
One evening we ate at Urban bar and grill. Our server, Jason was awesome. He had great suggestions from the menu and shared his favorite items. We each ordered a different entree and all of it was delicious. One of their specials, escolar, a fish dish, was so delectable. We all tried it and loved it. The hospitality at this restaurant was terrific. We would eat at the Urban bar and grill again.
Our last day in San Diego we met David at La Jolla Beach. David works as a bartender at the Westin. He is also a very good photographer. He and Stephen spent more than two hours with us shooting family photos. We had fun on this gorgeous beach, taking in all it's beauty, walking in the sand and spending the morning together as a family. David captured some great moments that will take us back to San Diego each time that we look at them.
As we left the Westin we were presented with a final gift. A perfect photo album with scrapbook pages, made to fit all of the adventures that we had. Our family was touched by the generosity of each person that we came in contact with.
Our Wow experience was one that we will never forget. We made new friends, and even if we do not see them again, they will be in our hearts forever.
Thank you for allowing our family to have this time together.
May your lives be blessed for all that you have done for us and others.
Theresa Hyde
I wanted to take the chance to thank you and everyone that had a part in our family trip to San Diego.
Southwest treated us real well and had a wheelchair for me at each stop on our way. They allowed me to pre-board, which made it easier to get a seat.
It worked out nicely to meet Chantel in Las Vegas.
When we arrived at the Westin we were treated like royalty. We were greeted by Alyssa and her staff. All of the staff at the Westin were friendly and helpful, they all knew who we were and took very good care of us. Tim and Alyssa went over our itinerary, which was full of great adventures.
Our room was spacious with a dining area, living room and an adjoining room for the boys as well as an adjoining room for the girls. Our suite was upstairs, It had a beautiful view of the city, a large jacuzzi tub and king size bed. The beds were heavenly. It was difficult to get out of the bed after getting in. We loved the room, it was very comfortable.
The food was incredible! From the smoothies that they greeted us with to our last meal, it was all delicious. The menu was fantastic. Everyone could find something that they liked. One evening we were given an unbelievable meal cooked by the chef and delivered to our room. It was a feast with steak and seafood, salads and vegetables. The deserts were beautiful and tasted as good as they looked. We all filled ourselves to the brim and still had a lot of food left. Thanks to chef Andy for such a great dining experience.
We were able to take a Trolley Tour around the city of San Diego. We had a great tour guide Kaye. He was funny and told some great stories of the area. This was a great way for us to see what San Diego had to offer in a short period of time. It allowed us to know what we wanted to go back and see. We enjoyed our time on the trolley.
Sea World filled our day with fun and lots of new things that we had not done. Carol spent a couple of hours with us. She showed us sharks that were getting ready to hatch and we were able to touch a shark. My favorite part was being able to feed the dolphins, touch them, and give them a kiss. We also were able to see and touch penguins and feed the sea turtles. Carol showed us many new things at Sea World. She is very knowledgeable. She gave us ideas and suggestions on how to spend the remainder of our day. We had an amazing day at Sea World.
We had an opportunity of a lifetime by being able to tour the USS Albuquerque. We were told by a couple of former navy men that this was an experience that very few have an opportunity to do. Marc was a great host and tour guide. He allowed us to look through the periscope, sit at the control panels and see the training torpedoes. We were able to see all of the areas that were not restricted. It was so interesting to see what life would be like on a submarine. It gives us a whole new respect for those who serve our country, in the Navy. A special thank you goes out to all of them.
The tour of the bay was very relaxing. It had been a cold day and it was nice to be inside with a cup of hot chocolate and to see the south end of the bay. Our guide had also served in the navy and as we passed by many ships he was able to tell us about each of them. This gave us a whole new seaside view of the city.
One evening we ate at Urban bar and grill. Our server, Jason was awesome. He had great suggestions from the menu and shared his favorite items. We each ordered a different entree and all of it was delicious. One of their specials, escolar, a fish dish, was so delectable. We all tried it and loved it. The hospitality at this restaurant was terrific. We would eat at the Urban bar and grill again.
Our last day in San Diego we met David at La Jolla Beach. David works as a bartender at the Westin. He is also a very good photographer. He and Stephen spent more than two hours with us shooting family photos. We had fun on this gorgeous beach, taking in all it's beauty, walking in the sand and spending the morning together as a family. David captured some great moments that will take us back to San Diego each time that we look at them.
As we left the Westin we were presented with a final gift. A perfect photo album with scrapbook pages, made to fit all of the adventures that we had. Our family was touched by the generosity of each person that we came in contact with.
Our Wow experience was one that we will never forget. We made new friends, and even if we do not see them again, they will be in our hearts forever.
Thank you for allowing our family to have this time together.
May your lives be blessed for all that you have done for us and others.
Theresa Hyde
Dear Heidi & Jon,
As I stare down at my keyboard trying to find the right words to express my gratitude, I find that there are not enough letters on my keyboard, words in our language, or space on my hard drive to express the appreciation my family and I have for everyone’s kindness, respect, caring, empathy, sympathy, friendship, and generosity. To all the wonderful people we met on our trip to California, you truly were the highlight of our stay and will be forever remembered. All of you went well beyond any expectations to make our stay incredible and memorable. To all of the wonderful people who we never met and were directly instrumental to our experience and to all the phenomenal donors of the Jack and Jill Foundation, we thank you for your humble and anonymous contribution to our family’s unbelievable experience. We wish that we could meet all of you and personally thank you individually. I hope that your work with the Jack and Jill Foundation brings warmth to your heart and lifts your spirits as it did ours. Since my wife’s diagnosis it has been difficult to really let go and have fun without the fear that it might end some day. You gave us a respite from our fears and worries and allowed us to have more fun in three days than we have had for years. There will be very few memories that will bring me greater joy than the vision of my wife and children’s’ faces with every amazing and unexpected experience we had. Many of you don’t get an opportunity to see first hand the great things that you are doing for all of the families that you help, which is unfortunate. But, I can assure you that the good you are doing is greater than any of you can imagine. I have been accused of being long-winded and I don’t want that to be your impression of me. If I would have to say it all in one word, the only word that would be appropriate would be; WOW!!! We hope that we can find a way to pay it forward. We pray that all of you have great health, long lives, and a bounty of happiness. Best personal regards from the entire Borg family.
Sincerely,
Ed Borg
Dear Jack & Jill Late Stage Cancer Foundation,
We had very good time in Los Angeles. I had so much fun the people are very friendly and the hotel was just so beautiful. LA turned into my second home for me and I am very grateful to come on that trip to Universal Studio which was fantastic. I had the best time of my life I had so much fun, I didn’t want to leave. I’ve seen so many new things and tried many new things it was just amazing. I would like to thank our tour guide, Tony for lunch the food was great and for being a wonderful tour guide. Also, thank you, Maguel our driver for being amazing. The food was great at the hotel, and thank you Glen, Hotel Manager, La Keithia, Executive Assistant, staff for their excellent help and welcoming they all were great. The flight was great. We took some pictures of the family on this trip; you just don’t know how bad we needed that trip. We have been through so much and this trip helped a lot and it makes me want to do better in life so God can keep on blessing me. I did have a “WOW” experience.
Sincerely, Caneese Kinnie (16)
Dear Jack & Jill Late Stage Cancer Foundation,
WOW! I really loved the trip. Thank you for doing that for me and my family. The unhappy part was to leave LA the most beautiful place in the world. I love that you gave us this opportunity to have a trip like that. I love that you gave us our own limo that was really fun. I love that you gave us our own photographer. Thank you for everything! Thank you everyone! I had my mouth open a lot and I only could say “Wow”.
Sincerely, Torree Kinnie (8)
Dear Jack & Jill Late Stage Cancer Foundation,
I am very happy and grateful about what you all did for me and my family you gave us the trip passes. We had a fun time at the Universal Studios. “WOW” you gave us a fancy hotel. How everyone treated us was great. We just had a great time. So thank you, we got in the pool. We ate good dinners, lunches and breakfasts. We also saw Hollywood. We were in the mountains and took lots of photos. I would like to say thank you Heidi. I had a “Wow” trip that I will never forget.
Thank You, Darius Kinnie (10)
Dear Jack & Jill Late Stage Cancer Foundation,
I am very thankful for the trip you gave my family. I had the time of my life. The service the trip everything was just great, WOW! I have been dreaming to go to California, LA, and Hollywood. I had wanted that experience since I started watching TV. The food I been eating for days had my stomach growing for more. I like the hotel and the gym was nice and so was the pool. The people in LA were very nice and friendly. I also like the plane ride. And thank you for paying for everything that was very nice of you. When I grow up I want to move to LA. I am very happy to go on that trip. So thank you for your kindness everyone!
Love Cyness Kinnie, (11)
Dear Jack & Jill Late Stage Cancer Foundation,
Thank you, for the whole trip something I’ve never done in my life, I really enjoyed it. When we first arrived at the hotel they took are bags in to our room that and just took it from there. The gym was just really great. I had so much fun in the pool it was amazing I saw the places where they had made lots of movies I enjoyed. The rides were fun, but thing I loved the most were the hunted house. I thought I wouldn’t get scared but I did. The last day it all hit me. I am every grateful for the “Wow” experience that I may never be able to go on the trip again with my whole family. You know it was ten of us and it was pretty amazing. But one thing I said to myself when we took our flight back home how could this be me and the answer came to me fast education! Thank you Heidi and thank everyone in LA.
Sincerely, Carnale Kinnie (13)
Dear Jack & Jill Late Stage Cancer Foundation,
WOW, I had a wonderful experience. I never thought I would see LA in my childhood. The theme park was just great and so where the people. I would like to thank you for putting this trip together for me and my family you have blessed us with a trip of a life time.
Thank You So Much, Carneil (13)
Dear Jack & Jill Late Stage Cancer Foundation,
I just would like to say thank you for everything. I absolutely enjoyed every minute of everything and everyone! Everything that we have done in California has been a life changing experience. The trip even made me change a few goals in my life so I can endure the pleasures that I have endured on the vacation. When we arrived at the hotel the staffs made us feel so welcomed. They were outstanding! The hotel room itself was beautiful and outstanding. The food was also wonderful. Our tour guide Tony was funny, fun, and very nice. The tour was amazing! I saw everything that I always dreamt of. “WOW” Universal Studious was incredible! Thank you for the VIP passes. I really felt special when we found out that we had them. The virtual rides encouraged my mom to have fun because they weren’t actually real roller coasters and they were awesome! Together as a family, we had so much fun and everyone had a chance to do everything that they wanted. Once again I would like to thank you for everything, because you really made my fantasy into a memory that we, a family well never forget.
Sincerely,
Lataesha Kinnie (17)
Dear Jack & Jill Late Stage Foundation,
The trip was really breathed taking and awesome. I have never experienced anything this enjoyable, WOW! L.A is a beautiful city, and this was a once and a lifetime opportunity. From the moment I stepped off the airplane, I knew L.A was my second home, Thank you Jack & Jill and Heidi. You have fulfilled an amazing dream of mine.
Sincerely,
Clifton Kinnie (14)
Dear Heidi,
Thank you everyone!!! The trip was an eye tearing experience. The trip, universal studios, and the hotel was a "Wow" experience. We have never been nor stayed at a five star hotel. Glen, the manager, ,Lekisha and the service was outstanding. Tony was an excellent tour guide and
Miguel was very helpful and gave outstanding service. The trip was a and a experience that we will never forget. I felt like I was the Queen of LA. I mean Heidi you did a beautiful and lovely job. As so would say "You put your heart and soul in it".
Thank you Thank you all. The tears are falling from my eyes now and the memories are going through my head. "Wow" "Wow" it was unbelievable. Everyone did an outstanding job.
Thank you Thank you all. The tears are falling from my eyes now and the memories are going through my head. "Wow" "Wow" it was unbelievable. Everyone did an outstanding job.
Cena and family.
Hi Heidi.
Hi Heidi.
I am Cena's mom,Delores. I would like to just say thank you for making my daughter so happy. I never thought in a lifetime I would get to go to Los Angeles California at the age of 67. We had such a wonderful time. I thought I would never see Universal Studios and visit all the stars homes and Michael
Jackson's house because he was my favorite. I want to say through God all things are possible and I would like to say thank you God. Thank you Heidi. We had excellent care. Everyone was greatly appreciated. I had a "Wow" experience of my life, everyone made us feel so special. Thank you Jack and Jill and your children for making all of this happen.
Sincerely,
Delores.
Heidi,
Below please find out thank you letters to the Ritz Carlton and SouthWest.
I can not begin to thank you enough for arranging such a terrific vacation for our family. It was far beyond anything that we could have imagined. We really were at total peace for a few days, were able to completely forget about our problems, and amazingly the temperatures were comforting to my body and I felt in good health. God Bless you Heidi for all that you and your organization does for families dealing with such a draining disease that consumes our lives - you offer a get away that rebuilds family ties and rejuivinates the spirit. We will be forever grateful for the experience. Thank you so very much.
Dear Zelda/Jackie,
My family and I are forever grateful for the wonderful vacation provided us at your beautiful hotel. Everything was spectacular, from the management and staff welcome and assistance, to the beautiful rooms and delicious meals. The experience was far beyond anything we've ever dreamed. The hot stone massage I received left me feeling so relaxed and rejuivinated, like being given a new body and spirit. Many many thanks for the opportunity to stay with you in such an enchanting environment - we truly felt like special VIP's. There was so much beauty and tranquilty all around us that we, for a few days, were able to just enjoy being together and strengthen our family bond. Our family vacation will certainly be a memorable experience for all our lives. God Bless you all. The Naylors, Brenda, Dan, Erin, Miranda and Josh
Dear SouthWest,
My family and I would like to extend our sincere thanks for the travel arrangements to our dream vacation. The flights were timely and the staff very friendly. We are very thankful
for the chance to fly with you, as it was a first experience for our children and it was flawless and exciting. Again thank you for making our dreams come true.
Thank you again - Peace be with you !
I want to say a big huge Thank You to everyone who made my trip so wonderful. My family and I had an absolute wonderful time. Thanks so much to all the limo drivers (especially Tony). Thanks to the Renaissance Hotel management and staff who were all so very nice. Thanks so much to the helicopter driver (sorry I forgot your name, although I will not forget you). A big huge thanks to Tony and Ann Marie for such a wonderful tour. We had a great time and Amy misses the dogs :) Thanks to Theresa at the AMA awards and to Reba for taking her time to meet us. My kids tell there friends at school and then their friends have to ask me because they do not believe the kids that they went to Hollywood, on a helicopter, to Disneyland and met Reba McIntyre all in one weekend. A very huge and special thanks to Heidi who put this all together for us. This wonderful foundation is absolutely doing a great thing. I am so very Thankful to everyone. Please keep me in all of your prayers and I will keep all of you in my prayers.
Charlotte Haney and Family :)
Charlotte Haney and Family :)
Dear Heidi,
I wanted to write you this letter to thank you and everyone else involved in our WOW trip. First of all I want to thank you Heidi for taking the time in planning this trip, and planning a Wonderful trip for my family and I. We truly do appreciate it. I would like to thank Southwest Airlines for the air tickets. My 3 year old loved flying. I would like to thank Universal Studios for the front of the line passes. My husband never rides and he had a blast. And the front of the line passes made it so easy and we were able to ride everything. It was a wonderful day. I want to thank Tony Riccio for such an Awesome tour. And for the yummy cheese danishes from Porto’s bakery. They were so good. We had such a fun time with Tony he had us laughing all day! My 3 year old loved him and keeps telling me she wants to go again. It is something we will always remember! I want to thank Jenn Tallon and all the employees at the Beverly Wilshire! We could not believe our eyes when we walked into the Suite it was beautiful. There was a little tent set up for my 3 year old and we had all our favorite snack and drinks that was great. Jenn sent my older daughter and I for a manicure which was great! Everyone was so nice to us. And every time we would get back into the room we had special gifts waiting. Thank you so much! The service at the Blvd was awesome and we would like to thank everyone at The Blvd for great service and wonderful food. I want to thank our Limo driver Tim. It was awesome being picked up in a limo and he was also funny and we had a good time! I want to let everyone know that this is one trip we will never forget and we had such a wonderful time! I am so thankful for all of this it means so much to me! I would’ve never imagined such a great vacation! Again I want to THANK everyone for such a great trip we are very THANKFUL!
Thank you,
RoxAnne, Johnny, Ashley, and Jennay Fuentes
To the supporters and anyone contemplating supporting JAJF:
My name is Cyndee West. JAJF graciously hosted our family to a timeout from our late stage cancer recently. My husband Tom was diagnosed in 11/08 at the age of 38 with stage 4 colorectal cancer and when treatments and surgery were no longer an option we knew his time here on earth was limited. We discovered JAJF and were treated to the most amazing WOW! Experience.
Tom passed away a few weeks ago. His death has left a hole in our hearts but the many wonderful, fresh memories we have of him helped us (and still help us) make it through. I want you each to know the memories we made as a family together were a true gift. The words ‘thank you’ are just not powerful enough to extend our sincere gratitude for the trip of a lifetime and memories of a lifetime. Ethan, Alexandra and I will always have Tom in our hearts and in the cherished photos provided by JAJF.
Please support JAJF so they can treat more families. It is a vital, essential part of late stage cancer treatment……
Cyndee West in loving memory of Tom (Dad).
To everyone that made our dream come true;
My family is forever grateful to have had the opportunity to go some place truly magical. Being able to escape from our cancer journey for an entire week felt like an eternity. The last two years living with cancer has forced our family to find a new normal. This journey through cancer has required patience, understanding and accpetance that we are not in control of what our future holds. My husband was 28yrs old at diagnosis and our young family had just begun. We felt robbed of so many joys in life. With the help of the Jack and Jill foundation, Disney World, Sea World, and Universal Studios, we were able to steal a piece of our life back. Whether we were enjoying the breath taking site of the Magic Kingdom, or feeding the dolphins at Sea World, and lets not forget, tackling the Rock-it at Universal. It was all so magical and light hearted. For one week cancer didn’t have a place in our lives or in our childrens lives. We laughed until we cried. We inhaled the soothing laughs of our children as they explored so many new things. Their senses were overwhelmed with excitement as they explored all of the beauty that came with each place we visited. For that, Brandon and I are eternally grateful. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts! Your acts of kindness have changed lives. I know ours are forever changed. the memories we have will remain in our hearts forever.
Thank you
The Hora Family
Dear Friends,
Words cannot describe how thankful we all are for the trip that was provided for our family by the Jack and Jill Foundation! We continue to feel overwhelmed with gratitude to the Jack and Jill Foundation, Heidi, and all of the sponsors. It was more than we ever could have dreamed or expected. Our family has been fighting for Chris, my husband’s life, against Esophageal Cancer for two years now. We have two little girls, one is three years old and our youngest is one year old girl. The past two years has been hard on the entire family and we so desperately needed a break. This trip to Orlando, Florida provided that much needed respite. I am also so grateful that my mother was able to come with us. I knew I could not have done it without her help. She is so grateful that she could come and help experience this trip with us.
To Heidi, Thank you so much for all your work, for all the details you took care of for us. You were always so patient with all of our questions.
First was the plane ride. My daughters, mother, and I had never flown before. The staff at Southwest Airlines was fabulous. They helped me with Chris and the girls. Their help made something I worried about become something so easy. The plane trip to Orlando and from was wonderful. They did not mind answer questions from me and my three year old. J
When we arrived in Orlando, we were met by Mears transportation. They were so wonderful. Our driver, Mr. Joseph, was one of the nicest people. He was so polite. It was such a pleasure talking to him. He made the trip to the hotel and on our way back to the airport a pleasure as he pointed out things to us.
The staff at the hotel was so wonderful and welcoming. One individual in particular made us feel at home. Her name was Nadia. Nadia was wonderful. She gave us suggestions concerning Sea World and Disney. She helped make us feel so special, almost like we were her only priority.
Sea World was amazing. My oldest daughter, Sierra loved seeing all of the animals and getting to feed them. Even Alyssa was fascinated by touching a Sting Ray with Mommy. J They both loved watching the sharks with Daddy. There was so much to see. It was so wonderful being able to relax with our children and be almost normal again for a little while. The shows were excellent. We all love the dolphin show and getting to see Believe with the Shamu family. The Shamu family show was definitely the highlight. Everyone at Sea World was so helpful and nice.
Disney was everything I wanted it to be for my daughters. They both loved seeing Daisy Duck. I could not keep tears back when I saw them hugging and kissing her. I had my little girl back. The little girl who was not worried that Daddy might leave because the Doctors have to fix his inside boo boos. They both laughed and loved seeing Pooh Bear, Tigger, Eyore, and Piglet. Sierra lit up even more when she got to meet the princesses. It was as though she was meeting a dream. She laughed, danced, kissed, hugged, and whispered to all of them (Tiana and Prince Navene, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, and Belle). The individuals who act out these characters are wonderful. Sierra’s smile was so large when Bell told her that “She and the Beast had seen Sierra coming in the mirror.” When we went to eat at the 1900 Faire with the cast of Cinderella, the fun continued. Sierra and Alyssa loved Anastasia, the evil step sister. It was so much fun watching this young lady have fun with my girls. They made faces at each other and laughed so hard.
This was truly a magical time. I cannot thank you enough for this gift of memories. These are memories the girls will have in pictures of their father, their family together. So many times during the last two years, I have worried and worried if our family will be broken with the loss of Chris due to the horrible thing called cancer. During this trip, we were able to forget and just enjoy each other and enjoy life. There are so many to thank and our hearts are so full that I am afraid I might leave something out of this letter. We are so blessed with these wonderful memories that will last a lifetime. We cannot thank you enough for this very priceless gift. The selfless act that Heidi, the Jack and Jill Foundation, and sponsors do for families like mine is beyond words.
May God continue to bless the Jack and Jill Foundation, all of the sponsors, and everyone who is involved with these WOW experiences..
Thank you for these memories and for this experience,
The Sullivan Family
Chris, Tammy, Sierra, Alyssa Sullivan and Janie Angel
To: Jack and Jill Foundation
Atten.: Heidi Cohen
Atten.: Heidi Cohen
And all other Sponsors
To All Who Made It Possible
Our family would like to extend an enormous Thank You I We are very grateful to each and everyone involved in providing our family with such an awesome get a way to Nashville Tennessee. It was a wonderful break away from everyday life as we have come to know it. It was heart warming to see our family relax and smile and have a few days of what use to be normal before this ugly disease , Liver Cancer , that my husband has been fighting for almost 2 years.
Our 2 girls , Whitney and Bayley , enjoyed every minute of this trip. Bayley is presently taking guitar lessons and really took it all In at the recording studio. Since our return , she has talked about one day having a dress like Carrie Underwood and. Taylor Swift from the Country Music Hall of Fame. Got to love her! Whitney enjoyed the Food !!! And having room service along with housekeeping picking up behind her. Along with taking in a little side shopping on her own.
The trip was very enjoyable. My husband enjoyed the Tour of the Stars Homes. He loved having someone drive him around to enjoy site seeing without having to stress in traffic. Lol.
I must enclose about one experience we had on our very last day there. WE were resting in our room when we were directed to head down stairs at the hotel due to a tornado warning... What a way to end the trip! This was a true unbelievable ending to an almost perfect trip!!! Good news is.. We were okay and the hotel handled the situation with great ease. Woo Hoo.... Again.. We would like to thank each and everyone that made this trip happen. Thank you so much for a lifetime of a grand memory to look back upon . May you be blessed for your kindness extended to our family and many others whom you all help to have a break from illnesses that effect our families!
Warmest Wishes to you all,
The Donald Family
Hi Heidi,
We had such an amazing trip to Newport! We could not have asked for anything more! It was Fabulous! I have composed a thank you which you mentioned you could send out for me...
Fielding Family Thank You
Our family would like to express our greatest appreciation and extend our heartfelt thanks to all those who contributed to the Jack and Jill Vacation in any way!
The time and effort spent to bring this event together, the joy we experienced, and the kindness extended to our family has been the greatest example of friendship and love.
Your support and generosity has provided our family with strength to endure this journey.
Thank you,
Eric, Vicky, and the Fielding Family
Dear Ritz Carlton,
We would like to thank everyone involved with our amazing trip. Sammy and Gavin loved camp, the cabana and snorkeling. Travis loved the food, golf and relaxing. I loved my spa treatments, the cabana, incredible room and room service. With the time change it was great being able to feed the kids whenever they were hungry.
We all want to thank everyone for their amazing service, the extras (gifts, Easter Baskets, kindness), and the overall feeling of welcomeness.
This is definitely a vacation we will never forget. Thank you all for going above and beyond anything we could have imagined.
The Vickers Family
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This is a BIG THANK YOU to all who helped make our trip WONDERFUL..
THANK YOU FOR A WONDERFUL TRIP.. New York is beautiful and this trip helped bring our family closer..This trip to New York was overwhelming and WOW, extremely wonderful..
Everyone went above and beyond to make sure that my family and myself were well taken care of..
There aren't enough THANK YOU'S in the world that we could ever express for ALL that was done to make this trip something that we will never forget...
A big THANK YOU to Southwest.. There is a BIG thank you to Deidra and Tommy and Omar at The Helmsley.. Plus ALL the staff,, you guys made it a point to make sure that our stay was awesome.. IT WAS AWESOME!!!
Thank you for all the friendships that we made and going that extra mile for me and my family..
Thank you to The Circle Line. That is awesome treat that is offered to tourists.
Thank you to The Grey Line.. Our several tour guides were very informative and a lot of fun to listen too.
Thank you to the people from the Broadway Show.. Mary Poppins is a wonderful show...
Just one BIG THANK YOU to everyone that gave us this wonderful experience.
Hi Heidi!
We had SOOOO much fun!!! It was insane the way we were treated at the Ritz! They were soooo overboard with hospitality; we've never been treated like that before. I could never have been able to give this gift to my family, and I thank you from the bottom of my heart!!! We got to just be us again with no worries, and it was AWESOME!!!! We were all crying when we left, even my tough as nails husband-lol.
We are so overwhelmed with gratitude and happiness.... you made our wildest dreams come true and I wish I could give you a big fat hug!!! You cannot possibly slightly comprehend the gift that you have given us!!!! :)
THANK YOU!!!!
all my love, janet
Dear Heidi,
Thank you so much for giving my family and I the opportunity of a lifetime! My family and I thoroughly enjoyed the Caribbean cruise and all the extras that came with it. Thank you for taking care of all the details and making it a very smooth process! Please pass our deep appreciation on to the rest of the Foundation and let them know how much we cherished this vacation!
Again, thank you so much for this wonderful opportunity. JAJF will always be in our hearts!
With sincere gratitude,
The Bedwell Family
Dear Heidi,
We had a wonderful time last weekend at Stone Mountain Park. I wanted to say how appreciative and thankful we are for giving us the opportunity for our family to get away and spend time together. The staff at the Marriott Evergreen resort was very helpful and attentive to our needs. We greatly enjoyed our stay there. Our family really needed this short getaway, and we are thankful to Jack and Jill, Stone Mountain Park and to all of the others that made this trip possible. The kids will always remember the great fun they had.
Kind Regards,
The Phang Family
Hi Heidi!
So sorry this is so late.
I don't even know where to begin. We had such a wonderful time. First of all Thank You for making it happen. We probably never would have gotten to see Phoniex on our own. Absolutely beautiful! Your program in absolutely magnificent. Also Thank You for the Nascar experience. My son had a blast!
We want to Thank all the staff at the Marriott Villas for a fabulous vacation! We have never been on a vacation where the staff in so attentive. Nothing was too big or too small and they were willing to fill our every need. They rooms are absolutely beautiful.....soo clean. And Thank You so much for all the food waiting in the room. It was definitely plentiful. Also, thank you so much for the baskets that were left. My son was so excited with his gift basket! Also, thank you for the food gift certificates. I just wish I could remember all the names so we could Thank You each individually, but we know you all know who touched are hearts. Words cannot express how thankful we are for this wonderful experience at your villas!
We want to Thank Mike for the hummer tour. We all had a blast!! It was very informative. Alot we didn't know about the desert. My son will be talking about that experience for years to come! Also, thank you for the sweatshirts and disc with the pictures on it.
Thank You again to everyone that made our vacation to Arizona a Fabulous experience!! One we will never forget. We would definitely recommend to anyone to make there next vacation plans at the Marriott Villas!
Jean, Terry & Cody Lotz
The Jack and Jill Foundation is a wonderful organization that promises a WOW experience to families stricken by cancer in order for them to make memories. This was a promise fulfilled to my family thanks to Air Tran, the Longboat Key Club & Resort, and Busch Gardens. We are so very grateful for the kindness and thoughtfulness that was shown to us. It certainly was a WOW experience. I wish my words could adequately describe how truly thankful we are and what joy you have brought to my family. So much of our lives revolves around my treatments and how I am feeling. This trip gave my family the opportunity to step outside that part of our lives, enjoy each others company, and have a great time surrounded by the beauty and luxury of the Longboat Key Club & Resort and the excitement and fun of Busch Gardens.
Thank you Tad Hutcheson and Air Tran for supplying the transportation for this wonderful trip. This was only my children's second trip on an airplane, so that in itself was very exciting for them. They are three boys ages 10, 8, and 4. They loved looking out the windows as we took off and landed. They loved seeing the ocean and the long bridges as we approached Tampa. They will never forget it. Your generosity in giving us these plane tickets made this whole trip possible and we are so very grateful.
Michael Welly, Gloria Schroeder, and the staff of Longboat Key Club & Resort gave us an incredible stay at an incredible resort. We are so very appreciative of the hospitality, kindness, and generosity that you showed us. We could never have imagined such a beautiful place with such magnificent accommodations, delicious food, and wonderful people. This was not a resort my family could ever have afforded to visit. My children, my husband and I were able to escape from our cancer driven reality into the calm and peacefulness of your resort. We were treated with such kindness and made to feel so special by Gloria and the staff. Gloria truly is a treasure. She went out of her way to make us feel welcome and welcome we felt. She greeted us with beautiful flowers, baskets of snacks, and toys for Nicholas, Kyle and Matthew. The excitement on the boys' faces was such a joy to see. Even more exciting for them was the day trip Gloria arranged for them with the Kids Club. Sara and Mya from the Kids Club took them to the aquarium, a science museum, and lunch. They had such a wonderful time. If that was not enough, Gloria, outside of her work hours, came back to our room that evening with her daughter Tiffany and took the boys to Five Guys Hamburgers and to play miniature golf. Tiffany took beautiful photos of our family on the beach. The boys had such a great time. They talked about feeding the alligators at miniature golf for days.
While the boys were having this fun filled day of excitement and entertainment, Rick took a long walk on the beach and I partook in a Pilates class and a pedicure. They were both wonderful. Rick and I had time to rest and went on to have a delicious meal at Sand Pointe, a relaxing walk on the beach, and a stroll through town. Thanks to Gloria, Tiffany, and the girls from the Kids Club, Rick and I enjoyed a relaxing and quiet day. With three boys, we don't get very many of those so this was a wonderful treat for us. Thank you so very much.
The rest of our stay at Longboat Key Club & Resort we spent enjoying the sights and sounds of the beach, splashing in the pool, and eating delicious meals in your wonderful restaurants. Our most complex decisions during our stay were which of the fabulous restaurants to eat at and which to go to first, the beach or the pool. I loved waking up in the morning and watching the sun come up from one end of the balcony and then at night, walking to the other end of the balcony and seeing the sun come down. I have never experienced that in all my life. It was such a treat. You gave our family a much needed break from the treatments, the stress, and the ups and downs of life dealing with cancer. You will never know what a gift you have given us. We created wonderful memories that my husband and my children will never forget. We are so very grateful.
On Friday, we left the peaceful tranquility of the Longboat Key Club & Resort and traveled to the fun and excitement of Busch Gardens. Thank you so very much, Busch Gardens, for providing us the opportunity to enjoy your incredible park. Rick, Nicholas, and Kyle rode some of your more thrilling rides while I took Matthew on the kiddie rides. He loved the motorcycles and the airplanes. The Air Grover was his very first roller coaster ride and he just loved it. The Gwazi was Nicholas and Kyle's first large roller coaster ride. They will never forget these rides. I wish I had been there to see the look on Kyle's face that my husband had described. Priceless. We had a great time feeding the flamingos and rode the train around the park as a family. My children love trains and animals and got a good dose of both on the train ride. It was wonderful. We wish we had more time to experience more of your beautiful park. Our flight departed Friday evening and brought our trip to Busch Gardens to an end earlier than we would have liked. Thanks to your generous gift of the Quick Queue we were able to ride more rides and thanks to your gift of the meal pass we were able to eat at no cost to us. The day was fantastic and filled with fun and excitement. My children will always remember the day they spent at Busch Gardens with their mom and dad. We are so thankful that you gave us the opportunity to create these memories.
Finally, I would like to thank The Jack & Jill Foundation, Jon Albert, and Heidi Cohen. It is through the efforts of Jon Albert and his foundation that this WOW experience even became possible for us. We created memories that will never be forgotten and I am so grateful for the chance to do that. I am so sorry that it was your personal experience with your wife's cancer that made the creation of your foundation possible, but I am so thankful that you took that experience and made a wonderful foundation that brings such joy to families who deal with the same pain you did. You are a wonderful person and I am so grateful for the joy you have brought my family. Thank you Heidi, for all the work you put in to planning and co-ordinating such a wonderful trip. Everything was perfect. Thank you for your insight into what you thought would be good for us. You were right on. Thank you so very much.
My children have experienced first hand, the trials of cancer and the extreme generosity of people. They have witnessed this thanks to all of you who made this trip possible. It is a lesson they will carry with them all their lives and it is my greatest hope that they will share it with others. I sincerely thank all of you involved in giving us this WOW experience. You gave us rest, you gave us peace, and most of all, you gave us memories. Thank you.
Sincerely,
Shawn Morse and the Morse family
(Rick, Nicholas, Kyle, & Matthew)
To all the ones that made this possible, Thank you to everyone that has made this trip an opportunity of a lifetime for me and my family. Cancer has consumed our lives for the last 2 and a half years. It has been a very trying time for us all...my Oncologist which is pretty amazing wanted to start this off for me to give some time with my 2 sons, Bryson and Justin and my sister Sandra Burch.
He also told me that while in NASHVILLE, I would be CANCER FREE, and he was so right. I lived and experienced things with my sons and sister that I never dreamed were possible. From day one of this trip, without the help of each and everyone of you it would not have been possible. Southwest for making this flight so easy for me and my sister flying to Tampa to start this trip with us. Avis, for making us feel like stars ourselves in the beautiful Chrysler 300 that was given. My sister almost melted when she saw her dream car waiting on us. The Marriott at Brentwood, you were a great place to stay with the most amazing staff, you were so overbooked but made everything such a wonderful stay....breakfast was wonderful! The people at CMT, WOW, where do I start....rehearsal really, a meet and greet with Jason Aldean...our contact Adam Vacek, he was wonderful he took care of us so well...then Ryan and Lucia all the things that were given to us and then for Ryan to say they want to do more, it is amazing. Jason Aldean was an amazing artist, and to see him with Ludacrice too...overwhelming. When he met us afterwards, he was so nice and such a normal person talking to us. My sons were just about to pass out I think and then one of our others favorites just happened to show up Luke Bryan, and he took pictures with us too....it was fantastic.
Thank you just doesn't seem like enough to say for this wonderful adventure, but I hope that these words that I have written let you know how much this was appreciated at a time in our lives that needed something wonderful to help take the pain of knowing that the Mom to my 2 boys has terminal cancer away for a little while. Thank you all again, these will be memories of a lifetime deep in our hearts.
Sincerly and with great Thanks,
Melissa, Justin, Bryson Bland
and
Sandra Burch, My sister and best friend
Howdy everyone...
Heidi, I can’t express enough how grateful we are for the opportunity your foundation has given us. The words Thank You just are NOT enough!
I wish I could stand and thank each person individually.
I’m so glad you help steer me toward Seattle. It was a beautiful city. One that I would definitely visit again. W... the Hotel. WOW! The hotel was just amazing! Everything... from the room, the food right down to the service. At the desk, housekeeping and the restaurant. That also includes the prompt car service that the hotel provided. We did not want for a thing. We asked... we got!!!
All of the activities that were planned... Over the top! We had great seats for the baseball game. Which happened to be Ethan's first MLB game. The Ride the Duck tour. A very interesting way to ride thru town learning some of the history. The City Passes allowed us to see and do more on our down time so that we were not wasting away in the hotel. Not that it wasn’t nice and cozy...
I didn’t think any of the views could get any better. Then we boarded a sea plane and went to San Juan Island to go on a whale watching trip. And yes they delivered! A pod of 3 whales surfaced. 2 adults and 1 baby. Not only was it AMAZING seeing the whales, but the surroundings were just breathtaking.
The views I took in are surely are some of the small wonders of the world.
Its truly a tragedy how the foundation got started, BUT so much good is coming out of it. and I for one am soooooo glad that Jack and Jill exists. In no way shape or form could I have ever given my son this trip.
Again... there are no words that can say Thank You enough. If there is anything I can do to pay it forward, Id be glad to.
Thanks again to each and every single person that made this trip not only possible... But made it the greatest vacation ever!
Sincerely, ;)
Kelli Holmes
Ethan Holmes
and
Karen Sykes
Dear Heidi,
My family and I want to thank you for the most amazing weekend! From the time we arrived at the Ritz Carlton we were treated with utmost respect. The services they provided were 5 Star. They were very kind and sensitive to our situation. We were very honored and touched by the compassion that we were shown!
The Braves game was like a dream come true! As a family, we try to go to a game every year. You can only imagine what a thrill it was to have dinner reservations and seats we could have dreamed of. We extend our genuine thanks to the Braves organization for their kindness! Obviously,it will be a special time that my husband and children will never forget.
Last but not least, thank you Heidi and The Jack & Jill Late Stage Cancer Foundation for making all this possible! Your tireless efforts for making all this come together in our time frame, was no easy task! Please know
how much all of this has meant to us and God Bless always.
With Deepest Appreciation,
Stephanie, Terry, Kelsey, & Briana Bonner
I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of those that had a part in making this time with my family creating unforgettable memories possible. Your overwhelming generosity towards us warms my heart and fills my eyes with tears of gratitude. I don't have the words to describe how much this meant to all of us. My battle with cancer has been constant and on-going, the challenge of facing it everyday often is too much to take. It means so much to be able to take a "vacation" from it at least for a little while.
I feel better leaving my family early knowing that there are such wonderful people in this world to make it special. Everything was perfect. The villa was magnificent in its peacefulness and tranquility. The parks were huge and filled our days with fun and sun. Everyone from the resort staff to the park employees were ever so helpful to me and my family.
Again I cannot thank you enough with words to describe the gift you have given us.
A personal thank you to you and The Jack and Jill Late Stage Foundation for putting all of this together for us Heidi.
Ever gratefully yours,
Sheila Beals
Hi Heidi,
My Family would like to thank you and the Jack and Jill Foundation for the great vacation you gave us. Everything was first class. We really needed this. The Sheraton San Diego Hotel and Marina treated us like royalties. The whole staff was just awesome. My kids have told all their friend about the experience they had. Sea world was also so kind to us. We had a behind the scene tour that was just awesome. They let us feed the dolphins and just seeing my wife with a smile on her face was priceless. The last day of our trip was Legoland we only could stay only a couple of hours because Carol was not feeling that well but they were also very nice to us. We can't thank the Jack and Jill Foundation enough for what they gave us. A trip of our life time.
Thank you
The Morrison Family
Dear Heidi,
My family and I would like to thank you and the foundation for the wonderful weekend getaway given to us. There are no words to thank you enough for this trip. We were able to forget about Manny’s illness and enjoy our precious family time. We also would like to thank the companies that made this possible for our family, they were very generous and their staff was great.
When I heard about the foundation and all the wonderful stories from other families that are going through the same thing as ours, I decided to apply for The WOW Experience without any expectations. I was surprised to receive the call from you so quickly! When you asked what my husband would like to do, all that came to mind was Orlando. He is a kid at heart and our vacations are mostly spent at the theme parks. He had wanted to go to Universal Studios, but had not been able to because of the high cost of his treatments. When you called me back with the arrangements, he was ecstatic! He couldn’t wait to leave.
The Renaissance Hotel Orlando was amazing! Everyone went out of their way to make us feel right at home. We were pleasantly surprised to find out that we had two rooms, the kids were thrilled! All our needs were well taken care of. A great big thank you to all the staff and especially to the waiters at the Tradewinds Restaurant.
Universal Studios was out of this world, we were given the VIP treatment. When we received the tickets to both parks, we also got the GOLDEN TICKET, at least this is what Manny called the special needs pass. We were escorted on every one of the rides from the entrance directly to the ride, with no wait time! Yes, this was indeed a golden ticket! Manny tires very fast and not having to wait in line in the hot sun was wonderful and so helpful for him. He was able to truly enjoy a full day at the parks. The staff at each of the rides was great and very caring; it was a great experience.
We also got to go to SeaWorld, which was a surprise addition to our trip. We loved it! The last time we were there we were not able to experience the whole park because of the weather. This time around we really enjoyed it, especially all the shows.
Words cannot express the gratitude we have for all you did, the time you took to plan every detail of our trip, and for taking such great care of us. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for a truly unforgettable experience!
The Valdes Family
Hi Heidi,
I hope this is the right email to you. We just got back from our family San Diego WOW! experience vacation and we had an amazing time! We can't thank you, the donors and the organization enough for this incredible experience. Thank you so much for arranging the airline tickets, the hotel, the rental, the meal vouchers and passes to LegoLand and Seaworld. The Carlsbad Sheraton hotel was spectacular! It was a stunning hotel, full of luxury and so convenient with its own private entrance to the LegoLand gate! We, the kids, had so much fun and shared so many wonderful memories together. It was an wonderful, lifetime experience, full of joy and happiness. The kids were blown away with everything, the shows, the lego displays, the rides, the pool, the airplane ride, and everything! Thank you so much for this experience and gift! We are forever thankful and humbled for this WOW! experience!
We will definitely ask our friends and family to extend their donations to the organization. Again, thank you so much for this incredible WOW experience!
Love,
Fawn Lee and Family
Please pass on our thanks for a wonderful experience at the Wyndham Resort. I really can't imagine a nicer place in Puerto Rico. From the group who met us at the door and showed us to our beautiful suite of rooms, to the gifts and note that were left for us, to the waitstaff, to Juan with Dragonfly who took us to to Old San Juan one day and the Rainforest the next, to Monica who did my nails, everyone was professional and so nice. Thanks also to Bob Harvey in finance and of course Danny Williams the GM for making a special effort to meet us and make sure our trip was going smoothly.
The whole family really enjoyed ourselves, and for probably the first time in awhile got to spend some time with each other. We couldn't have done so without your help...
Thanks again...
The Lee Family--David, Sherrena, Patrick Brian and Kevin
Dearest Heidi,
I have thought about you ever since the first time Rosemary at Moffitt cancer put us together. About every day in Maine I thanked God for the Jack and Jill Late Stage Cancer Foundation and Jon and Jills desire that the children of a parent with cancer should be able to have times of living outside of the horrors and bondage of that cancer. Your love for people is so apparent.
You, Heidi Cohen are an angel on earth. Your halo is glowing even though you do not see it. God saw fit to open your heart of compassion to our family and literally pull us out of a deep dark pit of despair, all with one phone call to the airline. I know you hear story after story and I have thought about writing to you every day. But I wasn't sure how I could truly, honestly, exactly, express the deep, genuine gratefulness that Jim, Jillian, Juliet, Luke, Levi and I have for what this wonderful foundation did for our family. My sweet mother, brother and sister welcomed us with open arms to stay with them on their 21 acres in Maine. That is the house I grew up in and the land we all love.
( Our oldest son is 21, he is mentally retarded and has lived with us his entire life. He never understood his dad's illness so his autistic symptoms were extremely agitated which in turn created huge amounts of additional agony. But since May he has been in a local group home and very content. Leaving him was the hardest thing I ever had to do. Knowing he was okay made it ok for me to leave him. I have been his caregiver for 21 years and my husband Jims for ten.)
Each of our four children learned to drive something! What a blast!
My daughter Juliet learned to drive my brothers big truck and my sisters car, Luke got to drive an ATV and a tractor to mow, and little Levi, who is seven, got to drive my sisters temporary scooter as she had 2 knee replacements 4 days apart. So we were able to care for all of her needs and help her through her surgeries and recovery. We spent very little money and had oodles of fun being outside in the fresh air. They swam in the pond ALOT! We swam in a beautiful Maine Lake surrounded by mountains, and ran through the woods(and picked alot of ticks off), we went up a mountain in a dune buggy and lived each day to its fullest. We picked and ate loads of blueberries and had garden fresh vegetables. Here in Florida I don't think we had good solid meals for at least a year and a half because of the care for Jim and our son Jason and the needs of the other four children. Our precious family "lived" as Jill Albert would have EXACTLY wanted them too: as children of a parent with brain cancer, they were able to get out from under it...I took hundreds of photos and my sister made a wonderful album for Each child. We even took the photo that will be for our Christmas card this year. The past couple of years we have not even been able to do that. We too have been literally held captive by my husbands effects of the grade 3 oliogodendroglioma brain cancer. He has been in his own personal agony for ten years. He has lived a life that is foreign to him and to each of us. He went from being an Executive Chef for Hyatt Hotels, he operated a 21 million dollar budget, 300 employees in the hotel and fifty in the kitchen. He was a supurb chef, teacher and mentor for 28 years, serving fine cuisines from all over the globe to clients..to now-not being able to calculate a tip on a small bill at a restaurant. His days are spent in bed alot and isolating himself. The radiation and chemo were a double edged sword. The children don't have their dad and I don't have my husband. We all stopped living when he became ill. We used to take the children to the Tampa Performing Arts to teach them the fine arts of plays and the intense beauty of orchestras and how creative each individual can be with the gift of music or passion for drama that adds so much character to the world we live in. BUT our life stopped too. It had been OVER six years since we have had any fun or gotten out of this house except for school, church and of course too many Dr. appointments. The brain M.R.I last week did not show the cancer growing. It does of couse show in detail the horrid effects of the fried brain cells surrounding the tumor site. Because the tumor crossed the midline they had to perform may treatments of bi-lateral radiation, both sides of his brain were hammered. So here we are... Thankful for this day, this moment, and The Jack and Jill Late Stage Cancer Foundation and Heidi Cohen who threw us the life raft as the 25 foot waves were about to drown us all. WOW!
We have thanked the Lord many, many times for the Jack and Jill late stage cancer foundation.
PLEASE tell Mr. Jon Albert how sorry we are for the loss of his lovely wife several years ago. Jill hit the bullseye of mother hood when she was thinking of her children in her tragic fight with cancer. Love...it all boils down to God's saving love that fills us with an overwhelming desire to love our children with a passion that is compared to... nothing else. And to think Mr. Albert had the grace to use his pain and anguish and turn it into a life boat- for the now. Praise God for people that reach out and care. Thank you Jon Albert and your children who undoubtly must follow in the footsteps of the gentle sweet mother who led them to have a heart of compassion. Jon and Jill, you lead by a shining example of courage and perserverance.
Our hearts are Overwhelmed by your gift of time...time that can not be wasted, but cherished.
Thank you, thank you from each one of us. Jim, Joanie(me, the Wife and Mother) Jillian,20, Juliet,13. Luke,11 and Levi,7.
If you ever need extra help my daughter Jillian is excellent on the computer and I am home full time Homeschooling. We can do it.
Gratefully Yours,
Joanie
Dear Heidi,
Thank you and all those involved for the most amazing family vacations, We just returned from an incredible time out west. We all are still smiling just thinking about our time together. We spent our final week this summer away from hospitals, doctors, bills, pharmacy runs and medical research looking for the miracle cure. Instead, we were tucked away in the cool rocky mountains enjoying sights we had never seen before.
Jeannie and Mike rolled out the “red plaid” carpet for us at the ranch. Chef Brian was OUTSTANDING making sure to keep me well nourished and supplied with all the veggies I needed to help battle my illness. I know it wasn’t easy for him and he is a saint in my eyes for taking a special effort to cook special nutrient packed vegetarian meals for me. You could tell Jeannie set the bar pretty high for all her staff. Every single person there went out of their way to make sure we were having a great time and getting to do what we
wanted to do even if it meant adjusting their schedules, and they did it graciously. From riding horses, learning to fly fish, hiking & picnicking around the beautiful Spud Lake, mountain climbing, touring the Mesa Verde national park, square dancing to just relaxing and enjoying each other’s company, the week will forever be sealed in our hearts as a time of respite in an otherwise turmoiltuous summer; 2 craniotomies, 8 weeks on IV antibiotics to fight off a brain infection and meningitis, repairing a cerebral spinal fluid leak and plastic
surgery for scalp reconstruction on top of the cancer battle. This was supposed to be my quiet summer at home with all the kids and instead a few bad scans changed that and all I did was go to the hospital or doctor with the exception of our week at The Colorado Trails Ranch. Thank you for that special time.
We found out 18 months ago I had brain cancer, grade IV glioblastoma and given 12-15 months. Our life since that day is indescribable; one minute you are so hopeful and the next minute after a bad scan or test you feel yourself being sucked down that black hole. As the patient, you look around and sometimes all you see is the collateral damage you and your illness are causing those you love. With the medical bills piling up and no end in sight, we never would have been able to take a trip like this without the help of Jack & Jill Late
Stage Cancer Foundation. With heartfelt thanks, we are forever grateful to all those that make trips like ours possible. Life is truly full of angels here on earth and we are thankful for those angels that were led to give to Jack & Jill so that families like ours can make memories, laughing, smiling and hugging each other when at times we find it hard just to breathe and process the reality of our situation.
With buckets of gratitude,
Beth Jordan and family
Heidi,
My family would like to take this moment to thank all who were involved in putting together a
beautiful, relaxing weekend in Naples, Florida. Our Host Lisa and Leslie with Equity
Estates were so helpful and informative. The property was unbelievable. Truly there are not
enough words to describe how beautiful and spacious the house was for my family. There were
no details left undone. A planned out itinerary that was not only perfect but flexible. The
sponsors who participated in our trip were generous and wonderful. The fact we could go to all
these different restaurants and order and not worry was stress free. The photo session on the
beach with Kenny was terrific. The highlight of our trip was Saturday night at Chop's City Grill.
We were greeted by Chip Shumway, General Manager, who rolled out the Red Carpet for my
family. Our son, Connor was so surprised with all the balloons and especially a huge gift bag full
of his favorite LEGO's at our table. We all could not believe the extent at which Chip and the
staff at Chop's City Grill had gone to make us feel so comfortable. Our waiter Marsa, she and the rest of the staff made us feel like we were Celebrities. This trip gave us memories that will be with us forever.
The Jack and Jill Late Stage Cancer Foundation is a wonderful organization. Deanna, who this is
all about rested, relaxed and for a few days put her condition on hold. It let Deanna get away
from the hospital, the treatments, the doctors and let her enjoy quality time with her son and
husband. A beautiful vacation for my beautiful wife. All we can say is that from the bottom of
our hearts "THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH FOR EVERYTHING".
Sincerely,
Anthony, Deanna, and Connor Battaglia
Heidi,
What a fabulous trip!!! I want to thank you for arranging such a
wonderful time. We were treated like royalty!!!
Our tour guide Paul from Elite tours was amazing. He has so much
knowledge of LA. Roughly 30 minutes into the tour, I felt like a family
member was showing us the sites!!! Paul has a wonderful warm
personality and he pays attention to detail. We were so pleased!
Upon our arrival at the Ritz we were greeted by several of the staff
where they jumped into action and made us feel so very special. Karissa
whispered to me as we were headed to our room; “Momma I feel like a
princess!”. If there is one thing that sticks out in my mind regarding the
entire trip, it is the warm compassionate helpful staff at the Ritz Carlton
and JW Marriott.
Our morning of pampering at the Spa was amazing. Alina made sure
we were comfortable and relaxed at all times. La Shauna, Tiffany, and
Chris made us look beautiful. A special thanks goes out to the
photographer who I am sure snapped some awesome photos while we
were getting out hair done. Karissa was so pleased with her up-do. She
truly looked stunning.
Alita, Tiffany, Kelly Steward, and Jeanine Spencer; I would have loved
to bring you all home with me! The attention you paid to us and the
warmth was phenomenal and each of you will have a special place in my
heart forever.
Kelly escorted us to the Emmys and the after party and she was so
precious! I feel like I have a wonderful new friend . I will certainly
treasure her for a lifetime.
I want to extend my deepest gratitude to the entire staff at the Ritz
Carlton. Our send off was so very touching! Each of you took time out of
your busy day to make us feel so very special. Oh, and by the way, Bill
please say hello to your wife for me (LOL)!!!!
Again, my deepest gratitude goes out to the Jack and Jill Foundation for
a wonderful, fun and exciting trip. My Superman is smiling up in
Heaven knowing that his girls were pampered and taken such good care
of!!!!!!
Sincerely,
Kathy Beveridge
Dear Heidi:
I am writing to express our extreme thanks to the Jack & Jill Foundation for the WOW experience my family and I recently had in Tampa Bay, FL. I don’t know if I can express how wonderful the days in Tampa Bay were, but I’ll try. I’d like to thank all the people and organizations that so selflessly gave of themselves, their services, and their resources.
To AirTran: You’ve always been our favorite airline, but giving us free tickets to make the trip to Tampa just solidifies your ranking. Thank you so much from everyone in my family for seamless air travel, both to and from Tampa. Your staff, both on-ground and in-air, were very personable and extremely capable. Your thoughtfulness and generosity are much appreciated. Thank you so much
To Budget rental cars: Thank you so much for the loan of a wonderful Nissan Altima for our trip, as well as the GPS to help us navigate the beautiful area of Tampa Bay. We were incredibly impressed with the car in so many ways. It was easy to drive, had incredible gas mileage, and was comfortable for our family of three. Your generosity means so much to us. Thank you very much.
To Busch Gardens: Busch Gardens was an incredible adventure for us. We are so grateful for your donation of three tickets for our family to enjoy Busch Gardens. In addition, I’d like to thank you for the use of a wheelchair which made the experience much easier for me, the lunch vouchers, and the Quick Queues. We loved our time at Busch Gardens and had a great deal of fun there. Thank you very much for your kindnesses.
To The Courtyard by Marriot of St. Petersburg/Clearwater: Wow, what a wonderful suite we had! Thank you for providing us with the suite at your St. Petersburg/Clearwater facility. The rooms were beautiful and the view of the courtyard was wonderful. In addition, we enjoyed the use of your pool and whirlpool. A thank you wouldn’t be complete, though, without telling you that your staff is top-notch, and some of the friendliest, most helpful hotel staff we’ve encountered in our travels. Thank you so much for your generosity to my family.
To the Tampa Bay Buccaneers: The word WOW! certainly applies to our time with the Bucs. We were overwhelmed with the many kindnesses we encountered from the Bucs’ players and staff. It was an incredible experience to watch the Bucs practice, to tour your beautiful facility, and to have lunch with your wonderful staff. In addition, we feel so blessed with the many gifts that we received: a t-shirt and cap for me, a jersey for Nate, a cap for Frank, Tampa Bay Buccaneers cheerleaders signed calendars, a special signed football for Nate, gloves given to Nate by a player, and an extra football given to Nate. I also appreciated the magnetic photo frame and Bucs’ breast cancer pin that I received on the night of the football game. Special shout-outs for our experience on Sat., Oct. 1 need to be given to Miray, Zac, Noah, and all the players and coaches for the hugs, handshakes, and autographs. What an incredible group of people you have working for the Bucs!
I would be remiss, however, if I stopped there. Our time at the game was really amazing. We so appreciated to be on the sidelines before the game and were overwhelmed with being able to watch the game from a suite. WOW! indeed!
Thank you so much, Bucs. Our time spent with you on both Saturday and Monday night was really amazing. We had so much fun and now we have incredible memories of our time with you. You are all wonderful, generous, kind people. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your thoughtfulness and generosity.
And by the way, GO BUCS!
To Heidi: thank you for making this dream come true. We had a wonderful time together as a family and were actually able to forget about cancer and just enjoy each other and the experiences we had in Tampa Bay. You do wonderful work, and I just can’t thank you enough. I hope you know how much good your work does. We were overwhelmed with our WOW! experience. THANK YOU so much!
Thank you everyone, for giving us such a wonderful vacation in Tampa Bay, Florida. We absolutely loved it!
Most Sincerely,
Judy Kooistra
Dear Heidi,
First, let me apologize for the length of time between your gift and this thank you. I am deeply sorry for the lag. I take all the blame for that. Second, THANK YOU for the awesome gift that you aided in for my family. To say the trip was wonderful, just doesn't do it justice.
The Villa that you reserved for us was absolutely amazing! The place was bigger than our house and had everything we could have ever needed and then some. I don't think the girls knew what to do with the Queen size beds they had in their own room. Its quite a step up from the bunk beds they have at our house. They thought they were in heaven. The food provided for us helped up immensely in getting ready for the day and it was all so very good! The staff there was wonderful and wanted to help us with anything that we needed. The whole time we were there, we never had to worry about a single thing.
The trip to the parks were equally amazing. Universal Studios and Sea World were simply amazing. It was awesome when Ang and I went on our Honeymoon 9 years ago. They are even more amazing now. It was so nice to be able to take our whole family down there and share all the memories together. The girls LOVED seeing the animals at Sea World and loved having Shamu bars! Haha
The journeys to all the Disney parks were awesome. To see the look of the girls as we stumbled through all the masses of people that were taking it all in with us was simply priceless. They loved everything about the parks. I asked what the favorite part was of the Disney part of the vacation and the their opinion always changes. That makes me feel that this was the right place for all of us to go as a family. To know that they have more than one favorite insures that Disney was the perfect destination for us. Seeing their faces as they met all their favorite characters was a thrill for them and even made mammy and daddy tear up at times!
I can’t thank you enough for all that you did for us and everything that you did to put our trip together. The trip couldn't have been made possible without the generous gift by you and Jack and Jill. Thank you for all of your time, effort and coordination of the whole week. It was definitely a trip I will never forget and I don't think my family will either.
Once again Heidi, I would just like to express the thanks and gratitude from my family to you for all of your bard work. The trip was everything we thought and so much more.
Thank you from the bottom of our hearts,
The Harlan Family
Dear Heidi,
Just want to start by saying thank you for the WOW Experience. It was just that for us, WOW!
My husband Gary and I never thought that we would get to share Walt Disney World together with our children, Helen and Gus.
I remember being pregnant and taking chemo and wondering about all the things I was going to miss in my kids lives. Gus being 8 at the time and thinking that he was really just starting with life and Helen,she was just ariving. Just broke my heart....Gus and I always taked about going to Walt Disney World together. We had always told him that when he was about 11 or 12 we would take him, that way he could ride anything that he want to, well he is 11 now and he rode it all...
We have spent all of my retirement and our saving 3 years ago to pay for breast cancer and still paying for breast cancer left overs. We never thought that we would ever get money ahead to take a trip to Walt Disney World, so I made Gary promise that if something happened to me, to spend very little on me and take the rest of the insurance money and take my babies to Walt Disney World and tell them that it's my treat and that I really love them.
The smiles on my kids faces were priceless. Seeing Helen's face when the airplane took off with her for the first time and her asking if the sky had fallen...what a 3 year old thinks! Gus loved all the rides, I don't think he missed but one, and it was broke down. He does want us to go back to the waterparks, we didn't do any of them. With the park hopper and the pass that we got from the Town Hall in WDW, we seen all four parks and rode just about every ride. The hotel was awesome, the kids loved the big room, which we didn't stay in the room very much though. The dinner with Goofy and Pluto was great, Helen is usually shy, she was not shy with any of the characters at all. The food was great and there was something there that everyone liked!
Again, thank you from the bottom of our hearts and just know that you are all doing something so wonderful that can't really even be put into words. This is just another blessing from God for us.
Thank you,
The Krapf Family!!
P.S. if there is anything that we can do to help bring awareness to what you all do, please let us know. We would be glad to help in anyway!
Hi Heidi,
Sorry it's taken me so long to get back to you, I had surgery last week and I'm just feeling better.
Thank you so much for your generosity and kindness. Our family had so much fun! We have memories of our fun time together that will last a lifetime. My son has been wanting to go to Orlando and visit the various amusement parks for a long time so this opportunity fullfilled his great wish. My husband and I were so happy to enjoy all the rides with him and to get away from our home and worries for awhile. Life has been challenging at times since my diagnosis with treatment and illness, etc., so it was nice to go and have fun and not think about cancer for awhile. We were just a family on vacation. We are deeply grateful for this fun filled vacation, thank you so much!
Sincerely,
Angie, Keith and Kurt
My family is very grateful for ever being granted this Wow experience. Words can not express how much fun we had, how blessed we feel and how special we felt during this week of WOW! We really did have wonderful on top of Wonderful!
I would love to say a very huge thank you to Jack and Jill Foundation and all involved in making this experience happen for us. A big hug for Miss Heidi, she knows how to set up a great time. Kudos to Air Tran for our flight which was great, we arrived early in Florida and in Georgia. Those pilots know how to fly. We want to thank Park N Fly Plus for keeping my truck while we where gone and for the kind service to and from the airport.
We must say thank you to Dolphin Transportation for our awesome limo rides to and from RSW. Lou and Michael you guys made our ride a great one. We also want to thank Marco Island Marriott Resort and Spa for the most breath taking week a girl could ask for. You all took such good care of us and we felt so like we belong there because everyone knew our names. It was like coming back home. We have to say you rock to Flo who made everything easy for us, Susan and Cathy who made our wishes possible and our stay awesome, Amy, Joe who took us shopping, Judy, Princess, Eli and the omelet lady at the tropics who made every morning a great day for us. Mrs. Jane from Coastal Breeze, Chris at the cabana who helped us relax, Lisa and Barbara from Qinns who gave us great service on the patio and in our cabana, Whitney and all those who served us in room service, the at your service staff was great with answering all our odd questions, Capt. Shannon for helping us relax on the boat and enjoy the sailing and shelling plus dolphin sightings, the spa staff for making us even cuter for our pictures with the photographer. Last but certainly not least we want to thank Mrs. Laura for the pretty jewelry and bond we created while there. This was an amazing trip for us cause we didn’t have to cook, clean, go to doctor or go to therapy. From the bottom of our hearts we say thank you! This trip was exceedingly abundantly above all that we could ever ask.
Sincerely,
Chiquita
Dear jack and Jill foundation,
I want to start from the beginning because its always more fun when a story has a beginning middle and end right?
About 6 months I was told I had lung cancer and my left lung was mostly collapsed. We went through several tests to determine that I was inoperable due to the cancer also invading m limp nodes. Our outcome for the treatment ended up at the Johnson center for cancer in Muskegon Michigan. It is there that the story begins.
The doctor that was assigned to my case by the center decided that he wanted to start me on chemo and radiation right away and he said that at my age he felt we needed to try and hit the cancer as aggressively as possible without risking taking my life. When a doctor tells a person this it makes your heart hit the floor. I did not accept the news well as I imagine nobody at the age 41 with two teenage children could. My family and friends were all sorrowful as was I. WE BEGAN THE TREATMENT!!!
After we made the decision to begin the treatment a wonderful lady came to us from the cancer center and sat down with my wife and I and asked us if we would like to fill out a few forms for a group that take people in my situation and helps them to do a few thing they might not otherwise get the opportunity to do, such as go on a vacation somewhere. I have never had the extra money to take my family anywhere other than small places in Michigan that are average so my wife and I decided this would be really cool should we be chosen to take a trip somewhere special.
A few weeks went by and we got a message on our phone saying we were approved for a trip by the jack and Jill foundation,, for the first time in months it seemed like our hearts had something to get excited about. With all the hospitals and sickness having a glimmer of something exciting was the best news we could have ever had. The very next day my wife called the number back we received the message from and this is what happened…………………………………………..
When we first spoke they offered us to go anywhere we had wanted to go in the United States. Overwhelmed by what they were offering to do for us we didn’t know where we would want to go they suggested we could consider something they was working on but they wasn’t sure they was going to get the tickets yet. What they were working on was 4 tickets to the Grammys and a 3 night stay at the Hollywood renaissance hotel.
THE GRAMMYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So after our conversation ended, my wife and I were left with time to think about where we would like to take our family for our first vacation together. Needless to say we couldn’t think about anything other than the Grammy’s from that point on. Just to be in Hollywood over came all our thoughts and other things in our lives got so much smaller.
When we finally received the call from Heidi at the jack and Jill foundation telling us that the tickets came through and we could brag we got the Grammy fever. We started telling our friends and relized not only did we not know anyone who had been to the Grammy’s but in fact we didn’t know anyone who knew anyone who had been to the Grammy’s!!!! Wow!!!
The date we were to leave was February 10th. We had never been on a plane or out of Michigan very far at all. We were very nervous…. Heidi our savior at the jack and Jill foundation was there to help. We had to get all the fancy outfits to meet dress codes and just had no idea how we could pull this off even with the free tickets and room and board we couldn’t afford to rent outfits or anything that comes with living the high life. Heidi called us and as we explained to her how our situation was at that time she asked us to let her make it happen. Now I don’t know how she did but ,,,, she had me and my wife in tears as she told us my tux and daughters dresses would not cost us anything. We were to just go and get a nice outfit and smile. It really made us feel like god was looking after us and a dream was going to come true. As you all must know by now it did!!!!!!!!!!!!
We left on the 10th aboard frontier airlines. Very nervous and excited all at the same time we took off for California. We arrived at lax airport somewhere around 2:30 where we met a person named Paul.
He drove a long van that had a tall roof, all black with awesome captain’s chairs throughout. Paul grabbed our bags and loaded them in the van. As we all were settled in Paul said we get to see anything we would like. Because it was our first time to la we let Paul take us to the places he thought we would like. He did a magnificent job. Took us to the shore line to see the coast and to as many movie star houses as he could with the time we had together.
As time came close to our arrival at the hotel renaissance Hollywood we were sad to end our journey with Paul. He helped us unload our luggage and I can’t help but think he watched through the doors of the hotel as they made sure we arrived in style!!!
As we entered the hotel we realized that there had to be fifty people there to welcome us to Hollywood renaissance hotel,,, everyone standing on each side of a red carpet welcome. Two big screen TVs with our name, the Reynolds, in big bold letters saying welcome to Hollywood. As they put the fruity drinks in our hands and toasted my family we became overwhelmed with joy at what they had set up for us when we entered their home. We then were taken to the top floor of the hotel, floor 20. That is when we got to our penthouse was introduced to us. It was a tear jerking event.
We started walking through the two bedroom apartment through the kitchen to see all the baskets of munchies, all out favorite things to eat, and a full fridge. We then saw the Grammy tickets and a bunch of gift cards for different places in town. WOW. We were in heaven if not just for a moment we began to see how blessed we were to be there. It was hard not to pinch ourselves to determine if what was happening was a dream.
Everything being perfect up to that point we then had to settle in and go have dinner at the hotel restaurant. They sat us down and fed us the most tasteful food we have ever eaten. I kept waiting for Gordon Ramsey to appear and ask if we were enjoying our meal. After dinner they brought us a plate full of desert witch was awesome.
The hotel put together a wonderful musical for us to experience during our meal. It was amazing to say the least!!!!!!!!!!!!! Our first day and night in Hollywood was the best time by far the Reynolds family had ever experienced.
Day two we went to universal studios where we got to see all the cool things and ways the make the movies we have been watching for years. It is truly amazing how many cool things there is to see.
We then went back to our hotel and went for a walk down Hollywood Blvd. what a cool place. At some points a bit scary for us small town folks but cool. Just seeing all the stars in the sidewalk was amazing.
Day three,,, the Grammy’s!!!
My wife and daughters were taken to a day spa for the girl stuff. All I’m going to say about that is when they got back it was all smiles and they sure did smell and look beautiful. We then got on our outfits and headed to the Grammy’s.
The staples center. The place we watch so many things on TVs, we were there.
We found our seats and before the show the man sitting next to my oldest daughter got up and kind of bumped her leg as he left his seat. When he returned he leaned toward my daughters and said “I want to apologize, I’m Adel’s doctor for her voice box and had to receive an important call”. Of course at that point we had to have pitchers as proof. It was awesome. We watched the Grammy’s as Adel won a ton of awards and the rest of the amazing show. How much cooler does it get than that? not much!!!!
Monday morning came and we had to come home. To our snowing state in Michigan we went. Excited to brag and show all our friends what a wonderful time we had had.
What you all did for us has been by far the coolest thing anyone has ever done for us. We will never forget the things we did or the people who took us under their wing to show us the most awesome vacation a family could ever ask for.
So for all of you,,, hotel renaissance Hollywood ,, paul with our tour guide,, all the hotel staff, and whoever else helped, THANK YOU.
JACK AND JILL FOUNDATION,,, Heidi,,, I can’t even say thank you enough. You all are truly the best. Your giving hearts have made something possible for me to do with my children I would have never had the chance to enjoy. Knowing my time left here may be short and getting to do something so spectacular with my wife and children before I go makes my heart overwhelmed. I wish I could do more than just write a letter.
THANK YOU JACK AND JILL FOUNDATION!!!!!! THANK YOU SO SO MUCH.
WITH A HUMBLED HEART,, THANK YOU. FROM Randy and family.
February 17, 2012
Dear Jack & Jill Foundation,
We wanted to express a long overdue thank you for our amazing trip to Los Angeles. We are still talking about all the fun & unexpected surprises we experienced. From the moment we were picked up at the airport until we were dropped off again, we felt like royalty. We have never had an experience quite like that before. Most especially it gave us some much needed family time that we didn’t have to talk or think about cancer.
The private tour of the stars was enjoyed by all (even my 3 yr. old who got to see the superhero’s homes). The driver Paul was entertaining & willing to play along. When we arrived at the hotel, we were greeted with most of the staff by clapping and then introduced to the General Manager & Events Planner who had planned our whole weekend. The days were perfectly organized yet with flexibility if needed.
The hotel room was so amazing & the big kids loved having their own space. We were provided with a well stocked refrigerator & lots of goodies.
The highlight of the weekend was the AMA Awards. My three teenagers really enjoyed the event & I may have had more fun than they did.
All & all, it was an experience of a lifetime! Your overwhelming generosity will always be remembered.
Sincerely,
Scott & Jill, Christopher (18), Morgan (18), Austin (14) and Will (3)
Dear Heidi,
Thank you so much for the amazing trip that you coordinated for our family. It was an amazing experience for our family that we could not have done on our own. We felt so pampered by the royal treatment we received from Marriott at the Marina del Mar. We were impressed right away and floored that we had two rooms to spread out--it was so enjoyable to have a separate room from the kids so that we could all get a good night's sleep. All the staff was gracious and we didn't feel like we were treated any different than other guests on the concierge level, which was a real treat. We received similar VIP treatment at Universal Studios and the kids really felt special to be allowed to stay after the "Animal Actors" performance to meet the animals. Disneyland was a real treat. I thought that at 2 and 5 our kids might be too young, but there was more than enough to do...they kept going solid from 10 am to 5 pm with no naps and had fun the whole time! Our oldest especially enjoyed the star wars jedi warrior training. Our younger son was tickled to go inside Mickey's house and had fun on many different rides. Sea World was flat out amazing. The personal tour with Megan was an experience of a lifetime for the kids. They are still so excited about feeding all the sea animals!
Thanks so much for all the memories and a fantastic family trip--it was a ray of light.
Megan and the Correll boys
The Kimball family would like the send a huge THANK YOU to the Jack and Jill Late Stage Cancer Foundations for allowing us to have a wonderful vacation together at Disney. We had an amazing time. The hotel was beautiful and the staff was so helpful. We could not have asked for anything more. If we called for anything they were available to help us and were always pleasant and kind. We enjoyed a day at Magic Kingdom and were able to meet Mickey Mouse, which was top priority for 4 year old Dalton. We also enjoyed a day at Hollywood studios and let’s not forget diner at the T-Rex restaurant at Downtown Disney. The weather was fantastic and we loved being together as a family. We want to thank everyone who made this amazing trip possible for our family. Brett, Dalton and I will never forget this amazing time we had in Florida and at Disney. Without the Jack and Jill Foundation we would not have been able to take this trip and we thank you so much for this. From the day Dalton was born, Bret and I said we would love to take him to Disney around the age of 4, as this is when it’s still Magical for a child. Thanks you for helping us make this dream came true. At this time in our lives there are so many things we worry Dalton is missing out on but he didn’t have to miss Disney as a big eyed 4 year old, fill of excitement and magic. Thank You!
Sarah and Family
Dearest Heidi,
My family and I would like to thank everyone who made our recent trip to Disney
World a reality. Sometimes I really don't think people understand the incredible
amount of healing power that an escape with new sights, sounds, and laughter can
hold. A vacation from treatment, and the glow in my child's eyes was truly the
best I felt in a while. I am forever thankful, and pray this continues for others
suffering the same.
Sincerely,
Tonja, Ron, and Ronnette
Dear Heidi,
I would like to thank you for organizing such a beautiful trip!
I would like to thank you for organizing such a beautiful trip!
We loved every minute of our trip. My kids have never been to LA so they were very excited!
When we set foot into the Lowe's Santa Monica Beach Hotel, the look in their eyes was priceless. My husband and I were also amazed at the clear view of the ocean. The front desk staff warmly welcomed us. The manager Mike came out to greet us and offer his assistance if needed. As we headed toward our room on the 7th floor, we got an awesome view of the Santa Monica Pier and Pacific Park! It was breath taking. A huge basket of goodies awaited us in our room. A welcomed sight after the long flight. We got settled and headed down to Pacific Park/Santa Monica Pier. We had a great time on the pier! The Ferris wheel was one of our favorites! There was an amazing view of Santa Monica.
The next day we headed off on our Amazing LA Tour. We got a up close view of LA from our tour guide John. He was very funny and knowledgeable! Our favorite was the observation point near the Hollywood sign! We all got out and took pictures.
On Saturday, we headed to Universal Studios Hollywood! We were treated like stars! The kindly made accommodations for us to receive front of the line passes for my family! This helped a lot since it isn't always easy for me to keep up with the kids! We headed off to the back lot tour. King Kong was a thrilling ride!. The rest of the day was packed with activity. We even got a family photo with The Simpsons!
On Sunday, we started our journey back to New York with our Budget rental car. Then we made our way to LAX. We appreciated the good service of Frontier Airlines which got us home to NY! It was a trip of a life time for our Family!
We are overwhelmed by the generosity and compassion of strangers. When a family goes through cancer, it takes away their spirit of fun. Thank you for letting us have our spirit's renewed with this WOW experience.
Truly,
Angela, Mike, Phil and Leanna
Long Island, NY
Truly,
Angela, Mike, Phil and Leanna
Long Island, NY
Dear Heidi,
I just want to let you know we had a good time in Disney. My family and I had a GREAT time and THANK YOU FROM THE BOTTOM OF OUR HEARTS!!!
I am so going to pass the word around for sponsors and/or people you may be able to help. You and whom ever sponsored our trip deserve kudos by the millions.
Barbara
Dear Heidi and the rest of the JAJF staff,
We cannot even begin to thank you enough for the great "Wow" experience you provided our family with! We decided to surprise the kids and not tell them about the trip to Arizona. They found out they were doing to the desert at 2:30 in the morning as we were driving to the airport. They definitely were surprised and extremely excited. We felt like royalty right from the get go. Frontier Airlines provided us with a great flight to and from Arizona--their chocolate chip cookies were a nice treat and the TV was an added bonus that we weren't expecting--really made the flight go by fast for the kids. Budget Car Rental provided a great vehicle that the kids thoroughly enjoyed (they thought the "video" was cool--there was a camera as we backed up that played on the dashboard) It's the small things that really impress them! Pointe Hilton Tapatio Cliffs Resort was absolutely amazing to us! All of the staff were extremely friendly and helpful to us. The kids fell in love with the 2 bedroom suite that the resort provided for us. We were greeted with a welcome basket with snacks & drinks. They provided us with a great cabana each day at the pool--this was wonderful for Jason as it kept him out of the sun yet he was still with the family! The Arizona Diamondbacks hosted us for one of their spring training games. It was so awesome. We toured the facility and then got to be down on the field while they took batting practice. The kids got several autographs and pictures with the players. We will be getting display boxes for their autographed baseballs to keep them safe!
The memories that we made on this trip will be treasured by each of us for years and years. So many little things: Easton falling asleep at the dinner table waiting for his ice cream to come (we had been up for almost 24 hours straight at that point), hiking on the trails and experiencing cacti for the first time & Easton getting poked by one, swimming in the pools, sliding down the water slide, taking in a ball game, getting autographs, and the list could go on and on! It was so great to see all the smiles and hear all the laughs--that's probably the best part of the whole trip!
Thank you again for blessing our family with this wonderful trip!
Jason, Joslyn, Taylor and Easton
Hi Heidi –
First let me say thank you for arranging our trip to Long Beach and to the Aquarium of the Pacific. It was a great! We appreciate everyone’s efforts and contributions, making it very memorable. My husband is a marine biologist turned environmental chemist. Prior to his brain tumor, he would have been able to identify and tell our daughters the names of the all the creatures, fish, sharks, and other sea creatures, etc. He loved taking them to the ocean, visiting tide pools, scuba diving and snorkeling.
We got down to Long Beach late Friday afternoon and were met by Nusrat Mirza, the General Manager from the Renaissance Hotel. He provided us with information about the hotel, the area and the aquarium. The hotel suites, accessibility, food services, Steve the concierge, valet parking, Starbucks, and everyone at the hotel was so pleasant, inviting, and helpful.
We met JC at the aquarium will call, who gave us our tickets and provided information about the behind the scenes tour of the aquarium. This was our first visit to the aquarium and we were all very pleased. Andie (from the aquarium’s education resources) gave us the behind the scenes tour. She was very friendly and knowledgeable, answered our questions and even laughed at our jokes. We got to see the sea otter pup, go above the tropical reef, feed the fish, watch the penguins swim, understand what it goes into keeping the aquarium operating, see some behind the scenes such as the seahorses and other aquatic life. We also got to meet Tito the South American porcupine. Who would have thought, a porcupine at an aquarium?
Also, please note, Nusrat informed us that the owner of a nearby restaurant, George’s Greek Café invited us to dinner at the restaurant, but my husband was completely exhausted both Friday (after the drive) and Saturday (after the visit to the aquarium), we decided to order room service. So we do appreciate his offer but were not able to visit the restaurant. I have only heard great things about George’s.
Again, thank you so much! It was an outstanding weekend!
Janis, Steve, Anna and Emily
Heidi,
I was just sitting here on this cool relaxing day, getting a free pampered manicure and pedicure when all of a sudden a load of feelings took over me. I felt a mixture of gratitude, love and appreciation. The laughter shared with my children, the wonderful conversations among the amazing workers here at La Paloma and I, even my husband confessed that he had never been so relaxed; I was simply overwhelmed with joy. Thank you Jack and Jill for resuscitating my life again. I've been so sick for so long that I began to feel as if I was digging my own grave. Who knew it was possible to be alive but feel dead at the same time? I am grateful of you giving me a sense of life, I am now able to breathe again. We would all like to say thank you to the foundation and all of it's sponsors that granted our family the privilege to see what's out there on the other side. You all are our genie in a bottle. I believe in fairy tales and dreams do come true. i know that this is the start of my dream coming true and ending it cancer free is still a tangible reality.
Thank you always,
The Barksdale-Marshall Family.
Heidi-
There are no words to appropriately express our gratitude for the WOW Weekend our family enjoyed in San Diego. From the moment we boarded Frontier Airlines and climbed into our stretch seats to enjoy fresh baked chocolate chip cookies to our last goodbye at the Sheraton Carlsbad Resort and Spa in Southern California , we were.....well..........spoiled rotten! What an adventure we had! On the first day, we checked into our beautiful hotel and received VIP vouchers for breakfast and dinner at the twenty/20 bar and grill. I almost wish the food hadn't been so amazing. I'm still trying to work off a few of those meals. Even my husband picked up a few pounds. The next day we headed to Sea World where "Murph" our VIP tour guide worked her magic and had reserved seats for us at several amazing shows. She stayed with us for half the day and gave us some great behind-the scenes tours. Hands down---interacting with the dolphins was the favorite for all of us, especially the kids. When "Murph" overhead my husband and I talking about how tired he was getting, she disappeared before we knew it and came back with a wheelchair for him. She gave us vouchers for a wonderful lunch at the Shipwreck Cafe and off we went to enjoy the rest of the park. To quote my children, "Sea World Rocks"!
The next day was filled with the USS Midway tour, K1 Speed go karts and a movie at the luxury movie theater.My daughter and I recommend the cinnamon roll popcorn! Amazing! On the third day, we drove our luxury Budget Rental car (so cool!) to the San Diego Zoo Safari Park in Escondido. We spent the whole day there and still didn't see it all. What an amazing place! From the safari tram to the cheetah run--------we loved it all. On our final day, we headed to Coronado Island to the Hotel Del Coronado where we played at the beach for several hours. Steve and the kids had never seen the ocean and it had been about 17 years for me so we all looked like tourist, for sure, staring out at the majesty of GOD with our chins on the sand. I wouldn't have missed that moment for the world! What an awesome trip. For four whole days, compassion took cancer to the mat for us. Thank you doesn't begin to cover the debt of gratitude we owe. Steve and I have told our children that there are people who run into burning buildings and people who run out. Thank GOD for people like you. Sometimes we need a hero. GOD knew-and led us to all of you.
May HE bless and keep you always,
Steve,Dee,Hunter and Hannah
Hey Heidi - The Francis family would like to thank you, Jon, the Jack and Jill Foundation, all the sponsors and people that made our trip to Denver a truly amazing WOW experience.
We arrived in Denver early Saturday morning after a wonderful flight on Southwest airlines. They were so helpful and generous in making sure the six of us all had seats together so we could talk and enjoy the trip. Those little things are so appreciated by our family. At the airport in Denver we picked up a suburban from Budget - this was great as the boys had their own space and plenty of room for the wheelchair.
After a short drive we arrived at what the boys called paradise - The Westin! Words cannot describe how we were treated by the staff at the Westin. As we pulled up to the front, the gentlemen parking cars knew our family by name, that was impressive. The royal treatment continued for the rest of our stay with a huge three room suite and all the boys had their own space, TV and bed. What a awesome place to stay with even better people. We had the best breakfast every morning with the ladies working the restaurant. They went so far above and beyond to help us with everything we needed and wanted. Saturday also gave us a meeting with Dallas Clark of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, number 44 jerseys for the entire family and time for the boys to talk to their favorite NFL player. The evening was capped off with an amazing musical called “The White Christmas” . What a beautiful theater and show - it was spectacular!
Sunday was our day with the Broncos. What an awesome day! Cindy met us in front of the stadium with Broncos jerseys and hats for the entire family. She took us on the field where we watched the teams warm up. After warm-ups it was up to a Presidential Suite where we watched the game, and enjoyed all the delicious food we could eat. The staff in the suite took care of everything and made sure the boys had everything. Watching the game in such a beautiful suite was beyond belief.
During the day Monday we spent hours enjoying the Museum of Nature and Science. It was perfect for the boys with all the exploring and hands on experiments. We went to the IMAX for a 3D film on polar bears - really cool. We grabbed a bite to eat then on to the Denver Nuggets basketball game. We were met at the VIP entrance and went right down to the floor where the boys got to sit on the Nuggets bench and then were able to go out and shoot on the floor. This was a dream come true for the boys who are huge basketball fans - shooting hoops on an NBA floor with each other is something they will never forget.
This was such an amazing trip and I have only mentioned the highlights - I know I am forgetting so many things and people. There were so many more smaller but very special moments that it would take me a book to mention all of them and all of the people that made this such a memorable trip. The job you did arranging all the details was so much appreciated - I had the opportunity to relax and enjoy my family without worrying about all the details. Talking to and meeting Jon was one of my favorite parts - I think Jon and I will be life-long friends. Thank you, Heidi, Jon, JAJF, and all the sponsors for one TRULY AMAZING WOW EXPERIENCE! You are very special people and this is a very special organization!
----- Thank you so very, very much......... The Francis Family
Dear Heidi, John, Jack and Jill Foundation, and all your wonderful partners,
Thank you so much for our wonderful trip to Los Angeles over Thanksgiving. We had a wonderful time! To Southwest Airlines, thank you for making room for us at such a busy time of year. Our daughter is in middle school, so we have to go when school is out.
The Sheraton Downtown Los Angeles was terrific. They gave us a beautiful suite, which makes such a difference when you are traveling with kids. And they treated us to a beautiful Thanksgiving dinner, served in our suit, which we were not expecting at all. The kids really liked the LA Dodgers sweatshirts they left for us, and the "LA tooth fairy" leaving $5 for my son was a great touch. The Sheraton also gave us tickets to the Grammy museum, and we had fun listening to music from all different eras.
We had a blast at Universal Studios. My daughter's favorite, and mine too, was the studio tour tram ride. The WaterWorld show was completely amazing, and the kids also liked the Animal Actors show. Thanks for the "front of the line passes" - they were really helpful on such a busy day.
The next day was Disneyland - a real highlight. It was the first time for my kids and my husband. I'm not sure my kids have ever heard me scream on the roller coasters like I did there. It was wild watching the Christmas parade in the warm sun with palm trees in the background. My son Alec's favorite ride was the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. My daughter and I loved Space Mountain. We explored and had dinner in the Downtown Disney area.
We played on the Santa Monica pier, watching surfers and riding rides, and eating while watching the sun set into the ocean -- not a common view for us on the East Coast!
We took some great pictures, but very few of them have all four of us, because one of us was always taking the picture, but here is one of all of us on the Santa Monica pier.
Thanks again for all your generosity to us, it was a trip we will all remember for a long time!
The O’Connor Family
Dear Heidi,
We apologize for being remiss in just now sending our letter of appreciation. Life has become overwhelming since we returned home, but the trip provided by Jack and Jill to Disney World was just wonderful! It was my wish that we would be able to enjoy a trip to Disney and forget about all the bad stuff that had been going on with my treatment. This was truly a WOW experience for me and my children!
The time we spent having fun on the rides and just enjoying the excitement of the parks will be cherished forever by me and my family. The Swan and Dolphin Resort was just gorgeous and everyone treated us very special. The Manager of the restaurants was so nice. He and another representative presented the children, Daniel and Carson, with very special gifts upon our arrival. We also were treated to a wonderful Dinner at one of the four or five star restaurants. Even though it was a fancy restaurant, they were able to provide Carson with his favorite, butter and cheese pasta.
My six year old son, Carson, loves the white sand and beach. At the Swan Resort, he was able to play on the white sandy beach around the pool and play area. This made his trip complete. He says that it was his favorite experience. My eight year old, Daniel, loves Star Wars and he and Carson were able to make their own Life Savers at the shop after the Star War Ride. This was his favorite experience. For me, it was relaxation in the comfy bed at the resort after a hard day at Disney, as well as all the fun stuff with my children. The Van made available through Jack and Jill provided us with a wonderful trip back and forth to Orlando. The children were able to spread out from one another and enjoy the ride.
Heidi, I would like to thank you and all of the sponsors that were involved in making this trip possible for me and my family. You are doing such a great service to parents like me, that are just overwhelmed by this terrible illness. Please accept my appreciation from the bottom of my heart!
Sincerely,
The Borgmans
John and Heidi,
I can not thank the two of you enough. My family and I had the most wonderful time in Phoenix, Arizona. The flights with Frontier were smooth and enjoyable. The resort was more then wonderful. We had beautiful, clean, large rooms. Each of the three balconies faced the mountains, giving us a beautiful view at any moment. The hotel provided generous gifts for each of us. They also left very yummy snacks in our room, while we were out enjoying horseback riding and a tour in the desert. Bunty, Carol, and Gigi went above and beyond to make our stay more then memorable. Gigi made it a point to put smiles on my girl's faces. I know its part of "the job" but it did not feel that way to us.
We received a bonus while on this vacation. I have a college friend, Lynne Hillard who settled in Phoenix a number of years ago. The resort happened to be with in 10 miles of her home. And since we had a rental (thanks to you) our families were able to see one another again.
This was the most amazing thing anyone has ever done for my family and I. My journey to you started out very simply. I was having a conversation with my then chemo nurse, Darcie Bebee. I was telling her how odd it is to be sick one day and go canoeing the next. Nurse Bebee was encouraging me to be active with my body and mind. She was the first person to tell me about foundations. Mrs. Bebee set up a meeting with my social worker at the Johnson Family Cancer Center, Heather Schnicke. Then I got a call from Heidi :) At first I could not believe that someone(s) could be so generous. As a result of your thoughtfulness and generosity we spent precious time together experiencing new actives, learning about our surroundings, and just being together. There was not one of us in a big hurry to come back home to the real world.
Our Most Sincere Gratitude
The Semelbauer Family
I can not thank the two of you enough. My family and I had the most wonderful time in Phoenix, Arizona. The flights with Frontier were smooth and enjoyable. The resort was more then wonderful. We had beautiful, clean, large rooms. Each of the three balconies faced the mountains, giving us a beautiful view at any moment. The hotel provided generous gifts for each of us. They also left very yummy snacks in our room, while we were out enjoying horseback riding and a tour in the desert. Bunty, Carol, and Gigi went above and beyond to make our stay more then memorable. Gigi made it a point to put smiles on my girl's faces. I know its part of "the job" but it did not feel that way to us.
We received a bonus while on this vacation. I have a college friend, Lynne Hillard who settled in Phoenix a number of years ago. The resort happened to be with in 10 miles of her home. And since we had a rental (thanks to you) our families were able to see one another again.
This was the most amazing thing anyone has ever done for my family and I. My journey to you started out very simply. I was having a conversation with my then chemo nurse, Darcie Bebee. I was telling her how odd it is to be sick one day and go canoeing the next. Nurse Bebee was encouraging me to be active with my body and mind. She was the first person to tell me about foundations. Mrs. Bebee set up a meeting with my social worker at the Johnson Family Cancer Center, Heather Schnicke. Then I got a call from Heidi :) At first I could not believe that someone(s) could be so generous. As a result of your thoughtfulness and generosity we spent precious time together experiencing new actives, learning about our surroundings, and just being together. There was not one of us in a big hurry to come back home to the real world.
Our Most Sincere Gratitude
The Semelbauer Family
Dear Heidi,
Thank you so much for the Wow! experience made possible for us through the Jack and Jill Foundation. We were sent for a weekend to San Diego, and it couldn't have been better. The weather was gorgeous, the accommodations were perfect, and it was SO enjoyable for our family of four. I have stage IV brain cancer and we have not been able to enjoy anything like this since I was diagnosed 14 months ago. It was such fun!
We were flown down to San Diego via Frontier Airlines, and they were very accommodating to our busy, energetic little boys--both of whom have trouble sitting still for long periods of time. :) it was so helpful to discover that our tickets included access to the in-seat TVs...helped pass the time on our long flights!
Once in San Diego, we had no trouble getting to Budget Rental Cars and picking up our mini-van, which came provided with age-appropriate car seats for both of our boys. (That was so nice--we didn't have to ship our own to and from home!) The included navigational system made finding our hotel a breeze...and what a surprise lay in store for us there! Westin Hotel in the Gas Lamp District in downtown San Diego was Utterly luxurious. They provided valet parking, which was convenient and very appreciated. Our suite was on the top (16th) floor, and they also gave us an adjoining room for our boys! The famed "Westin Heavenly Bed" did not disappoint...it was the most wonderful nights' sleep I've had in a long, long time. The hotel also provided our meals, and we often opted to use the room service option--there was a lovely dining area in our suite, and that way we didn't have to wrangle our two squirrelly little boys into and out of a restaurant every time we got hungry! :) My favorite part about Westin was this: the master bath had a gorgeous, deep Jacuzzi-style tub that we all enjoyed at one point or another. :-) And the provided hotel robes were so comfortable! Everything about our hotel was magnificent.
On the first day of our adventure, we went to the San Diego Zoo Safari, which was about 35 miles northeast. It was so much fun...we saw every animal we had ever heard or read about from the continent of Africa--and then some! The Africa tram ride was a particular delight.
The second day was our day at Sea World, and what a treat that was! We had a 3-hour VIP tour with the sweet Cali, who presented our boys with gift bags (that day happened to be Sawyer's 5th birthday!), then took us to meet and pet dolphins and provided us access to all of the shows and more. When Calvin (2) slipped away from us for a moment, Cali was unbelievably helpful in recruiting other nearby crew members to look for him until he was found. What could have been a horrible incident was handled calmly and professionally! My husband and I were so relieved and grateful. They also gave us fast-access tickets for the rides and. A meal voucher each. Sawyer's birthday dinner was spectacular!
The last morning of our stay before we flew out, my husband, Pepper, took our boys to the San Diego Zoo while I spent a quiet, restful final morning at our beautiful hotel packing up and preparing for the long trip home. They got to see all kinds of animals and ride the aerial tram, and had a blast! I was sorry to miss it but so thankful for the quiet (which I needed) and the opportunity to soak one last time in that tub and then lounge in the softest bed ever. :) I was ready to head home when they returned, and our flights were without any mishaps and quite pleasant!
It is impossible to properly convey our appreciation using mere words, but THANK YOU so much for making this dream trip possible. Beginning to end, it was perfect.
Blessings and with heartfelt gratitude,
The Woolsey Family
Heidi,
I really don't know where to begin. Thanks.
Thanks to everyone who made this trip possible for Odin, Lisa, and Me.
It has made lasting memories for all of us. This trip is something
that I doubt I would have ever been able to
do for us and we are grateful. I have never met you, but I wanna give
you and everyone involved big hugs for all the hard work you did to make
this happen for us.
I had not flown since 1987, and my son Odin had never flown. After the
final leg to Phoenix, the flight crew. took Odin up to the cockpit. He
got to shake hands with the Captain and sit in the
Pilots seat. It was very cool.
The staff at Budget Rental Car was awesome also. We drove around town
in a Toyota Prius! There was a learning curve for me. I had never
driven a car without an ignition before. Very nice car.
But I gotta tell you that I have stayed in many hotels and motels in my
30 odd years as a trucker, and I have never been treated as well at a
hotel, EVER. The Sheraton experience was over the top.
The room was just awesome. We had such a great stay. Just everything
was unbelievable. We felt pretty important when we were met by the
staff at the door. They wanted us to know that they wanted our stay to
be fantastic, and that they were there to make it happen. They
certainly did. It may sound like I am blowing smoke up someones hoo
haa, but I really don't know what else to say. I posted some pictures
on my Facebook page under Phoenix trip. I haven't posted everything,
but I think you will be able to see how much fun we had.
The Westin Kierland Golf was beautiful. We had a great time. It was a
physically demanding course, but it is something we will never forget.
Odin had an especially good time talking with the clubfitter from Iowa.
What a nice guy.
Sealand Aquarium was very cool. It was a fun afternoon. It was just
fun all around.
Thank you to everyone at Jack and Jill for making this happen for us. I
had never heard of you until this cancer diagnoses. I will never
forget the excitement that we felt when we found out
that this wonderful group was doing this for us. Thank you Thank you
Thank you!
Sincerely,
The Onsgard Family
Hello In-Kind Donors,
I am writing this note with tears of gratitude in my eyes! Words cannot express how amazing the whole weekend was for my family and me.
The time I spent alone with my husband at the 39th Ryder Cup was priceless and then sharing in the excitement of the beautiful Sheraton Hotel and Towers with our children was precious. We were treated so well at the Hotel by the Staff and the food was wonderful! We experienced a world-wind of emotion throughout the weekend from the Double-Decker Bus Tour to the Architectural River Cruise and a bonus with a filming of a movie outside our suite and then to the White Sox Game on Sunday!! As a parent to see how happy our family was and not to have to think about Cancer for just a moment was so wonderful...it was hard to come home back to the reality of lives, but we are so thankful and humbled for the WOW! Experience gift you all have given to us...someone you've never met..but wow have touched us so greatly!!!
Thank again for the bottom of our Hearts,
Mark, Pam, Anthony and Olivia
The Spiezio Family
Heidi,
Sorry it has taken me a moment to THANK YOU for everything that you have done for my family. Things have been a little hectic lately with dr appts, scans, treatments etc.. The experience that you allowed my family to have will always be a wonderful memory for us. From being able to fly on a plane for the first time, to seeing beautiful California. Please send our appreciation to the airlines, the staff at Marriott marina Del Rey, the professional drivers from Style Trans, the great tour guide who showed us everything we wanted to see and to Park N Fly for providing us with parking while we were on the trip. This experience gave my family some much needed time away from the day to day worries of Cancer. Your foundation is a BLESSING and for that I am truly grateful to you. Words really can’t express what you have done for us. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you.
Pickett Family
To : The Grant Hotel, Sea World, Lego Land, Sand Diego Zoo, Jack and Jill Foundation, and Erin:
Thank you all so very much for planning a trip of a lifetime for our family. Words can not ever truly express how grateful we are for all that you did for us! We will continue to fight our battle and are in great hope that a year from when we left San Diego we will will return to celebrate! Thank all once again for providing us with such amazing memories that we will cherish no matter where this fight takes us! San Diego will always hold a special place in our hearts!
Love always,
The Cross Family
Dear Heidi:
I am writing this letter to you to say THANK YOU!!! for all of the gifts bestowed upon us for the Hilton Head Island trip for my husband and family. We appreciated all the gift cards to the various restaurants in town. We could have not done this any other way. This was our first family vacation together. My husband enjoyed most of all the dolphin excursion out at the marina. We enjoyed it too. It was a fun time for all of us. It was a wonderful trip. The boys loved the beach toys. Definitely appreciated all the groceries sent to our villa!! And Emily Curry was a wonderful employee at the club. She provided whatever we needed, answered any questions, and became a friend to me. THANK YOU to all who provided everything for us!!! We are truly thankful and blessed !!
Sincerely,
Murdick family
I would like to thank all parties involved in helping the Jack and Jill late stage cancer foundation send our family on the experience of our lives.
Heidi you hit it on the head with the itinerary.
Our New York trip was quite the WOW! Experience.
The memories will last us our life time.
Not only did we create great memories, the entire family has a new appreciation for our lifestyle.
Word cannot describe our gratitude.
The Zettelmeiers
Hi Heidi
Justin and I wish to express our gratitude to all the amazing corporations who support the Jack and Jill Late Stage Cancer Foundation. My husband was a 20 year survivor of a childhood cancer when he was very suddenly diagnosed with a brain tumor last September when our children were just three years old and three months old. It has been a difficult year of treatment with emotional battles and many more still to come. Many days our children have been there to help us laugh when we wanted to cry; however, they have also had to spend much time away from mommy and daddy or had to experience our stress. Our WOW! Experience through the Jack and Jill Foundation allowed us to give some time back to our now four year old daughter. She loved Sesame Place and getting to meet the characters one on one. The Sheraton could not have been more welcoming, comfortable or spacious. The nightlight and pillow pet gifts were so thoughtful and so perfect. The service at Taste was excellent, and the meals divine! One of the highlights of the trip for my husband was riding the Duck. Having been a private pilot for many years, he has seen much of our country, but Philly was one stop he had never had the time to take in. Thank you so much to all who made our vacation possible and virtually stress free. You may feel like you just gave money to some group, but in truth you gave a little girl a memory of a trip with her father that she will treasure forever and be able to share with her brother. Priceless.
Thank you,
The Wade Family
Thanks Heidi for passing this along!
I would like to thank the Jack & Jill foundation for the wonderful trip provided to our family. The trip could not have came at a better time. On April 6 Ed's birthday he was very dizzy had a horrible headache and very sick to his stomach. I had made plans for his birthday but due to his illness we could not go. The next Monday we went to the doctor and found out the colon cancer was now in his brain. This was yet another devastating blow to our family. It seems somehow that we always get devastating news on special dates. We found out Ed had colon and liver cancer on our two year anniversary.
About 6 weeks later I received a phone call from Mary at the Cancer Center, she had submitted our names to you. We were so excited as we had not had a vacation since the diagnosis and it was a great feeling knowing that our family was being thought of. I was so thankful and over whelmed by the news I had to cry as I told my boss about your generosity.
The next challenge was would Ed be able to go. He had a set back in June but he overcame and we were able to go.
The trip to Orlando was great. Luke our 4 year old loved the plane ride. He loved Rainforest Cafe. Seaworld was great, of course we forgot where we parked and were drenched in the rain, it was funny. We enjoyed a relaxing swim at our hotel after the long hot day at Seaworld. The hotel was beautiful everyone was very polite and friendly. The girls in the Citron Cafe decided Luke needed ice cream which is his favorite.
Legoland was also so much fun Luke went on all the rollercoasters twice. We had so much fun and it gave us time together as a family. I also would like to thank Delta for the great plane rides during the hurricane. The last great thing that happened was as we were getting off the last flight in Fort Wayne the pilot turned and greeted Luke. He said come on buddy would you like to fly the plane and of course Luke jumped right up on his lap. And of course he put his hands on the steering wheel and the pilot took the time to explain buttons and gauges to him, which was great and thoughtful. I wish I would have taken a picture of this.
Thank-You so much for the great time and the memories. Everyone who made this happen God will truly bless your generosity.Philipians 4:13.
Gardner Family
I would like to say thank you to everyone that made this trip possible for my family. it was a really awesome experience for all of us. everyone at the hotel was just super nice they made sure we had everything that we could ever need. a special thank you to the lady who did the nature tour you were awesome my family enjoyed everything and the pictures that you took for us. all the food there was great. we had a lot of fun riding the tram up the mountain. now a really super thank you to everyone at the Jack and Jill foundation if it wasn't for all of you this would have never happened.
The Mason Family
Heidi,
Thank you, thank you, thank you. We can't express enough how much this trip meant to our family. Everything was perfect! We not only want to thank the Jack and Jill foundation, but also all of the others that contributed to our experience. From Disney to Universal to Southwest and especially the Westin Pasadena. The hotel and staff were amazing! They truly made us feel like we were VIP's. We also want to extend a special thank you to Norman in the restaurant. He is a wonderful man and went above and beyond the call of duty to make sure we were well taken care of. I hope and trust the Westin knows what a special employee they have in Norman as he is an amazing ambassador for their property and just a great human being! Thanks again and we will forever be grateful to you, the Jack and Jill foundation and all involved that made this trip a wonderful memory that we will cherish for a lifetime.
With gratitude,
The Vranizan Family
Heidi,
Thank you, thank you, thank you. We can't express enough how much this trip meant to our family. Everything was perfect! We not only want to thank the Jack and Jill foundation, but also all of the others that contributed to our experience. From Disney to Universal to Southwest and especially the Westin Pasadena. The hotel and staff were amazing! They truly made us feel like we were VIP's. We also want to extend a special thank you to Norman in the restaurant. He is a wonderful man and went above and beyond the call of duty to make sure we were well taken care of. I hope and trust the Westin knows what a special employee they have in Norman as he is an amazing ambassador for their property and just a great human being! Thanks again and we will forever be grateful to you, the Jack and Jill foundation and all involved that made this trip a wonderful memory that we will cherish for a lifetime.
With gratitude,
The Vranizan Family
Hello Heidi.
We wanted to THANK YOU and the Jack and Jill foundation and everyone involved in making our trip to Disneyland a fun and memorable vacation. We had a great time. The weather was great. Ryon our son was having the time of his life. Again we cannot thank everyone enough for this opportunity you gave us.
God Bless.The Buchanan Family
Hi Heidi,
Thank you to the Jack and Jill Foundation…. WOW- what an experience. My wife has stage 4 cancer and our family of 4 was sponsored for a trip. We chose Orlando- and let me tell you- because of Jack and Jill Foundation we have wonderful memories.
I cannot thank you enough for everything you did in planning our family trip to Universal! I also want to thank the companies involved with in-kind donations on our behalf-specifically the Clarion Inn Lake Buena Vista and Southwest Airlines. Words cannot describe how wonderful we were treated at the hotel.
My family would like to thank you from the bottom of their hearts for the wonderful vacation that the Foundation provided us. I cannot tell you how important this trip was to us. We had a wonderful time in Universal. The weather was so amazing in Orlando Florida that we hated to come home.
Once again, I can’t tell you how much we appreciated this trip. Thank you to all who made this trip possible. We will never forget it. You will be a part of our treasured memories always.
With much thanks,
The Cespedes Family
Heidi,
I don't even know where to start...I can not say Thank You enough to you for all your hard work arranging every detail, Jack & Jill Foundation for giving us this once in a lifetime trip & all the organizations that were involved in making our trip amazing. I can not tell you the last time that we were able to watch the kids have fun & not think about the cancer. At first our son had said, how can we Not think about the cancer, that is why we are going isn't it? But once we got to Florida he was finally able to feel like the weight was lifted. They had an amazing time at Sea World & Universal Studios, it was nice to see them just being kids & enjoying the time with their dad. We have had to make so many decisions in the last 6 months but this was the 1st time when the only decision we had to make was what we were going to eat for breakfast, & what we were going to see next. What you have given us something that can never be taken away ! Please forward our sincere Thank You to all that were involved in this amazing experience.
Sincerely,
The Rasmussen's
Thank You Cards
Please click on a name to read these beautiful handwritten appreciation notes and cards.
Garcia Family
Boccella-Lemmon Family
McLeroy Family
Miller Family
Miller Family continued
Dragoun Family
Hamel Family
Noble Children
Dear Heidi and In-Kind Donors;
We would like to take this opportunity to thank you for what most definitely was a trip of a lifetime. When we were first approached with this opportunity, we had no idea what an experience awaited us. It is so easy to say, but so true...our WOW experience was a vacation of a lifetime. Our flight on Southwest Airlines from Orlando to LakeTahoe and back again was on time and comfortable. Words really cannot express our stay at the Grand Residence by Marriott. The staff went over and above every expectation from the beginning to the end. We have never been treated so well in that every possible need or want was met. The facilities were beautiful and immaculate. The rooms were breathtaking and so comfortable. We loved the fireplaces and the jacuzzi. Our dinner at Fire an Ice was outrageous, as well as delicious. The tour of Lake Tahoe was breathtaking and the cruise staff was friendly and knowledgeable. The lunch was delicious. The cruise was definitely a highlight of the trip. Lake Tahoe is a beautiful city. Our his and her messages were wonderful. My husband had never had a massage before. We appreciate the photo session and look forward to being able to pick our photos. The dinner at Riva Grille was out of this world. I have never had lobster tails as big as the ones served that night. My children are still talking about that meal. The scenery and staff were excellent. Our breakfast on our final day was delicious. I can still taste the fresh squeezed orange juice!
I'm sure that you get many thank you notes and hear many great things. I'm sure ours is no different except for the fact that this trip was afforded to us and made lifetime memories for our family. The last five years have been very hard and have caused my children to have to grow up more quickly than normal. This trip afforded us the opportunity to enjoy each other with "cancer" hanging over our shoulders. You gave my family a respite from the battle and for that I'm forever grateful. You pampered us and made us feel special and we loved it! Too bad we had to come back to reality! I guess I'll close this with telling you what happened when my husband spoke with Heidi this past week. He said the first and last thing he said to her was "I love you!", and ended the conversation by crying on the phone. I asked him why he was crying and he said, "What do you say when some one has changed your life?" A month later he still cries when thinking of our WOW Experience. I guess you could say that you hit it out of the park as far as we are concerned. Thank you once again.
Sincerely,
Bambi Manchester and Family