Spoiler alert: I’ve accomplished a feat I didn’t know I wanted to accomplish, which is that I used the word smorgasbord in this blog post. It’s a word I don’t use often enough, honestly – and probably haven’t since I lived in New York for grad school. There was an awesome food truck event called Smorgasburg on the weekend in Williamsburg. It has since grown to an offering in cities around the country, and different locations in the city itself, but when I was there, it was just along the East River and in the footprint of a brick factory. (The park was recently renamed Marsha P. Johnson State Park, which I love.) This reflection is a bit of a smorgasbord itself: a buffet, if you will, with offerings ranging from photos to small business support. I invite you to peruse, pick your fineries, and enjoy.
Continue readingGet Ready for Fall with Pressed Leaf Lanterns!
Grab your pumpkin spice latte (hot or iced, it doesn’t matter!) and join us for our September Art Workshop, where we’ll make Pressed Leaf Lanterns! We’ll mod podge pressed leaves onto glass jars and make a beautiful luminary to use as the hours of sunlight get shorter. There’s plenty of room for personalization in this craft, and you’ll be free to add your own beautiful creative twists!
Continue readingYA Cancer Gabfest 2023: Registration Is Open!!
Beginning on December 4th, we invite you to a week of interactive survivorship crash courses for facing cancer, to share, explore, and learn as we interact together around the common paths of young adult cancer.
Continue readingChristina’s Corner: August 4, 2023
Happy August pals! We are back from our July program break. It was so great to see some of you yesterday at Coffee and Oodles and I hope to see more of you in the coming weeks, because our program calendar is *stacked*. For today, let’s get back into our usual eat, see, and do. And as always, if you have suggestions for things we should feature, be sure to connect with me and send an email to christina@cactuscancer.org.
Continue readingSupport Our Community: Join the Greenhouse!
Want to find a sustainable way to contribute to the young adult cancer community? Look no further than The Greenhouse, a collection of folks invested in the care of young adult cancer patients, survivors, and caregivers that often go unaddressed in healthcare systems.
Continue readingDonate to End Isolation Among Young Adult Cancer Patients
The experience of young adult cancer can be extremely isolating. There’s the feeling of being the youngest on the infusion floor, or hearing from family and friends that you’re “too young” to have cancer. All of these feelings were further complicated by the onset of COVID-19, when in-person support groups ceased meeting and many immunocompromised patients were forced to stay home in order to stay safe. Even now, as the world recalibrates to the reality of COVID-19, the young adult cancer community is still as vulnerable as ever. That’s where Cactus Cancer Society comes in.
Continue readingNo Green Thumb? Let’s Make Paper Plants!
We hear you: you love the look of plants but have a terrible time remembering when to water them. Get around this common challenge with our June Art Workshop as we make Paper Spider Plants! Bring some green into your home and keep your house pet-friendly with this awesome craft.
Continue readingBook Club: The House in the Cerulean Sea, Chapters 13 – 14
Welcome to the comments and discussion of the Young Adult Cancer Book Club! We are reading The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune. This week, we’re reading Chapters 13 – 14, Pages 235 – 284. Read our participants’ reactions in the comments section below!
Continue readingFresh Ink: Concrete Thoughts
In Unspoken Ink, one of our most popular programs here at Cactus Cancer Society, our participants write in response to prompts, ranging from pictures to quotes to poetry. We are proud to share the work of our writers here on our blog, including this piece, which is part of a series entitled Fresh Ink.
Continue readingFresh Ink: Rocks and Mountains
In Unspoken Ink, one of our most popular programs here at Cactus Cancer Society, our participants write in response to prompts, ranging from pictures to quotes to poetry. We are proud to share the work of our writers here on our blog, including this piece, which is part of a series entitled Fresh Ink.
Continue reading