A Message to our FPS Community
March 16, 2020 – What COVID-19 Means for the FPS Respite Program
We are writing to you during this time of uncertainty and hope your own family is safe and healthy. We too are striving to keep our FPS community safe and thus, we made the difficult decision to modify our respite travel program and our future special event schedule.
We have decided to suspend the FPS respite travel program for the time being. Therefore, we will not take any new nominations until this time and for the 41 families scheduled to travel in the next two months, we will work with them to provide a safe, meaningful respite as they battle advanced-stage cancer. Further, we are postponing our Walk, Fashion Show and NYC Happy Hour and working closely with our community event organizers to assist them with potential changes in their third-party events. We will update the FPS website and social media accounts accordingly to reflect any new developments related to our program, event and fundraising activities.
Though we are currently suspending our respite program, we are still actively answering inquiries about our mission and providing ancillary support as available. Last month we received over 25 nominations, so the need for our help is apparent. COVID-19 is unpredictable; similarly, the families we serve are navigating the most unpredictable time of their lives when it comes to their loved one’s cancer diagnosis.
We do know that once we are able to open our program for nominations, we will have more people than ever waiting for our support. We will be here to respond to these calls!
We are grateful to all of YOU for your support of our mission and our community! We pray for you and your continued health, our friends in the healthcare profession who give so unselfishly to care for others and our special FPS families who each day face uncertainty. Lastly, we pray for our country so that together, we can embrace unity and spread kindness during this unsettling time.
On behalf of the many families we help every day, thank you!
With Love and Gratitude,
Marci Schankweiler
CEO and Founder
marci@takeabreakfromcancer.org
FPS has been awarded a perfect score by Charity Navigator, a feat accomplished by less than one-tenth of one percent of charities! As the end of 2023 approaches, we encourage you to make your gift by December 31! By choosing to support FPS, you are not just donating to a charity; you can give with confidence and know that your donation will have a direct impact on the 795 people we plan to serve this year with over 76,000 hours of respite.