Guided Yoga Nidra Meditation With Momma G

garden gnome meditating

Angie Giallourakis (aka Momma G) will be leading four guided yoga nidra meditation classes! Each class will start at 6:30pm Eastern Time Zone every other Sunday starting on November 8th. If you’d like to just join one class or join all four the choice is yours!

This is a collaboration with our friends at Elephants and Tea!

Sign up here to join Momma G! We look forward to seeing you! You will receive a confirmation email upon registering.

Session One: The Compassionate Heart and Your Thirty Trillion Cells – November 8th

Session Two: The Waterfall – November 22nd

Session Three: Visualize Your Inner Strength – December 6th

Session Four: Love Yourself – December 20th

Note: Each session will be approximately one hour.

Supporting Lacuna Loft In A Crafting Night

Join Lacuna Loft for a night of fun and crafting, making monogrammed ceramic coasters led by our Chief Program Officer, Aerial Donovan.  When you can’t join a paint and sip in person, we’ll bring the fun directly to you!  Grab a friend and join other Lacuna Loft supporters online for a chance to directly support our programs for young adult cancer patients, survivors, and caregivers while also creating fabulous monogrammed ceramic coasters.

After making your contribution toward the event we’ll send you everything you need for the event in the mail!

Join us on Monday, November 30th at 5 pm PT / 7 pm CT / 8 pm ET for a 2-hour Supporter Crafting Night.

Go here to grab your ticket today!

 

Making Gingerbread Barns With Us!

gingerbread cookies

Join Lacuna Loft for our next Creative Art Workshop: decorating Gingerbread Barns and #LetsMakeStuff together!

Come hang out in this more casual Creative Art Workshop while we decorate Gingerbread Barns!  We’ll send you a kit with everything you need.  No pressure to be Jacque Torres, we are aiming for more of a Nailed It vibe.  Sure to be full of lively conversation and fun attempts at perfection, sign up today.

Who: 17 young adult cancer patients, survivors, and caregivers.

When: Friday, November 20th @ 5:30-7:30 pm PT / 7:30-9:30 pm CT / 8:30-10:30 pm ET via video chat.* (*US time zones…please confirm what time this means for where you live).

How does it work? We’ll send you all of the materials you need to participate!  Lacuna Loft will send you an email about a week before the workshop with information on how to join the video chat.  ***You’ll need the link that we’ll provide you, a headset with a microphone, and a webcam.***

Please note: Due to the global pandemic and ever-increasing customs and delivery times, we have stopped shipping outside of the United States. If you are interested in joining, please fill out the form and we will send you a list of supplies needed to participate, so you can still join us! Thank you for your understanding! If you have any questions, you can contact aerial@lacunaloft.org.

Click here to sign up to be notified when this program is announced by choosing it under ‘Programs you’re interested in.’ (Feel free to choose to be notified when other programs are announced too!)

UFO Edition, YAC Hangout!

craft supplies on table

Come join a UFO-edition Young Adult Cancer (YAC) Hangout next week!  Join together online with other young adult cancer patients, survivors, and caregivers for an informal meet up via video chat.

What’s UFO you say?  Un-Finished Object!  Have a project you’ve been working on that’s been hanging out unfinished?  Tackle it while hanging out with a group of young adults facing cancer!  Want to just come and hang out?  That’s fine too!

Monday, November 9th from 5:30-7 pm PT / 7:30-9 pm CT / 8:30-10 pm ET!

Interested in joining? Sign up here!  (Just fill out the form and make sure to choose YAC Hangout under the ‘Programs you’re interested in’ section!) If you’ve already filled out this form and selected YAC Hangouts, we’ll automatically send you a zoom link!

Virtual Cooking Class

Join Nancy Ferro, aka Mama Lou from Epic Experience, as she guides us through the perils of the kitchen!  Make one of her favorite, famous recipes within the cancer community!  We’ll give you an ingredient list ahead of time so you can cook right along with her.  Then chat the evening away with the Lacuna Loft + Epic Experience teams as your delicious food cooks along with others facing cancer.

There are two evenings to choose from, each with a different recipe, but you can only attend *one.*  Below the sign-up form, you’ll find each recipe so you can pick the cooking evening you most want to join.

Who: cancer patients, survivors, and caregivers.

When: There are two evenings to choose from, each with a different recipe, but you can only attend one.  Go here, scroll to below the sign-up form, and you’ll find each recipe so you can pick the cooking evening you most want to join.

Wednesday, November 18 @ 4-6 pm PT / 6-8 pm CT / 7-9 pm ET* via video chat to cook White Bean and Chicken Chili.

Wednesday, December 16 @ 4-6 pm PT / 6-8 pm CT / 7-9 pm ET* via video chat to cook Blueberry Banana Bread.

*(US time zones! We’ve found that sometimes these don’t match up internationally so please double-check what time to join in your area!)

How does it work? We’ll send you a full ingredient list in an email about a week before the workshop along with information on how to join the video chat.  **You’ll need the link that we’ll provide you, a headset with a microphone, and a webcam.**

Donor Space: What Makes Lacuna Loft Different During COVID-19?

masks

Hey there!

I’m back for another Donor Space update!

When COVID-19 hit the scene in the US, most cancer support locations closed their physical doors and in-person opportunities for support were either canceled or moved online.  When this happened, I was asked again and again, With everyone offering online support now, how is Lacuna Loft different?

It’s a great question!  The short answer is three-fold:

  1. We’re different because we’ve been offering programs online for over 5 years so we’re really good at it.  We’re good at the logistics, we’re good at fostering a safe-space, and we’re good at intentionally creating online experiences that benefit young adults facing cancer.
  2. We’re different because we are still the only organization offering a large variety of online programs proven to improve quality of life metrics in young adults facing cancer.  We continually evaluate our programs, we’ve published our results in the past, and we have over 15 programs currently running.
  3. When most of the other supportive care opportunities move back to in-person, we’ll still be online running a diverse set of life-changing programs for young adults facing cancer.

Have another question we can answer?  Use the button below!

With gratitude,

 

 

 

 

 

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Donor Space: Welcome!

empty office setting

Hello!

Lacuna Loft is always looking for new and creative ways to connect with our program participants and supporters.  We LOVE transparency, showing off our behind-the-scenes, and bringing you into our space as much as possible.

In that spirit, welcome to a brand new blog series, The Donor Space!  Whether you’re a donor, a volunteer, a program participant, a supporter, or just generally in our corner, you are welcome here!  We’ll answer questions, show off what’s happening in our programs, bring you into our offices, mix it up with blogs and video, and generally open up the doors to our virtual space in a brand new way.

I’m excited to spend time with you here!

 

 

 

 

 

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[button colour=”accent” type=”dropshadow” size=”large” link=”https://cactuscancer.wpengine.com/donate/” target=”_blank”]Donate[/button]

It’s A Wonderful Life: Taking Care During the Holidays Journaling Workshop

holiday bells and lights

Lacuna Loft is excited to bring back this special holiday program!

It’s a Wonderful Life: Taking Care during the Holidays

A 6 week journaling workshop for young adult cancer patients and survivors

“It’s beginning to look a lot like” an even busier time of year! The holiday season brings nostalgia (like a favorite song), connection to family and friends and an undercurrent of expectation. There can be an added layer of managing expectations to be positive and happy – even in the middle of treatment or when everyone appears to look “fine” when, inside, they are not.

Finding peace between the wrapping paper and the stuffing is within reach! Led by Jean Rowe, LCSW, join us for a 6-week holiday journal writing workshop to design a plan to lower stress, create or reconnect with meaningful traditions, and decorate your soul with a little TLC.

Where: Online video chat. We’ll send you more information about joining after you register. Please have a microphone headset and a webcam.

Who: Young adult cancer patients and survivors.

When: The journaling group will start on Thursday, November 5th @ 3 pm PT / 5 pm CT / 6 pm ET and meets on Sundays for 2 hours each week, for 6 weeks*.  A commitment to attend every date is important to group continuity and in creating a safe space. Please be on time 🙂

*The journaling group will be not meet on Thanksgiving Day and will be meeting on Nov 5th, Nov 12th, Nov 19th, Dec 3rd, Dec 10th, and Dec 17th.

Click here to sign up to be notified when this program is announced by choosing it under ‘Programs you’re interested in.’ (Feel free to choose to be notified when other programs are announced too!)

Book Club: The Cast, Online Discussion!

meeting on zoom with coffee

Welcome to the comments and discussion of the Young Adult Cancer Book Club!  We are reading The Cast by Amy Blumenfeld!  Catch up on Chapters 1-2, Chapters 3-4, Chapters 5-6, Chapters 7-8, Chapters 9-10, and Chapters 11-12!  Read participant reactions and follow along with us each week as we read through the book.

It’s time for our Young Adult Cancer Book Club Online Discussion!

After having read through the entire book together, it is time to get together and discuss!  Plus, this time around we are extremely lucky to have the author joining us!

Who: young adult cancer patients, survivors, and caregivers along with the author, Amy Blumenfeld!

When: Monday, October 26th @ 5-6 pm PT / 7-8 pm CT / 8-9 pm ET via video chat.

How does it work? You’ll receive the zoom link to join the online discussion in your inbox if you’re signed up to receive notifications about the book club.  If you haven’t already done so, click the link below, and under “programs you’re interested in,” choose ‘book club’ to be notified with the link for the video chat. Lacuna Loft will send you an email a few days before the workshop with information on how to join. ***You’ll need the link that we’ll provide you, a headset with a microphone, and a webcam.***

Join in next Monday for the young adult cancer book club online discussion!

Click here to sign up to be notified with the info you need to join the book club discussion.  Go under ‘Programs you’re interested in. and choose ‘book club’’ (Feel free to choose to be notified when other programs are announced too!)

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We will talk about a few chapters each Monday until the book is done. If Monday happens to be a holiday, then the post will publish on Tuesday. Once we finish the book, we’ll use one more Monday to talk about general feelings from the book and anything else you’d like to discuss. We’ll also have a video chat book club discussion at the end! Join in, in the comments every week! Also, there will probably be spoilers so read along with us!  Excited about the young adult cancer book club?  Have any suggestions for future reads?  Let us know!