A couple of months ago, we shared the story of our close friend Kevin Bjerke, who was thriving in his cancer battle and who was inspired to help find a cure for others fighting a cancer diagnosis. If you read that blog, you may remember that we mentioned that curing cancer had become a calling for the Silverman family because we had recently found out that our 14-year-old niece Gabrielle was diagnosed with Stage 4 Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. We want to share a little bit more about her journey and how she’s trying to give back to others in her time of need.
Gabrielle’s Story
Gabrielle is currently undergoing treatment for Stage 4 Hodgkin’s Lymphoma at the University of Chicago Comer Children’s Hospital. When she first started therapy there, Gabrielle’s oncologist mentioned that food insecurity was the number one challenge facing families in her care. Gabrielle decided that she wanted to help these families as best she could.
As part of her Bat Mitzvah project in May 2021, Gabrielle raised funds for Prosper Chicago, which is a not-for-profit program that addresses food insecurity by supporting communities and businesses in Chicago. Her project went over well and she was able to raise funds for the organization, and she’s hoping that a second campaign will be even more successful. This time Gabrielle is partnering with Prosper Chicago to help support families being treated across the medical center.
Comer Children’s Hospital and the University of Chicago Medical Center are based in Hyde Park and they provide critical medical care to families throughout the south and west side of Chicago. More than 60 percent of patients are Comer Children’s Hospital are on public insurance or uninsured, so food insecurity can be a real problem as medical bills start to pile up.
If you’d like to participate, you can do so in a few different ways. You can donate via the website or by making a check payable to Prosper Chicago and putting “FOG” in the memo line. Checks can be mailed to:
Prosper Chicago
1901 N. Claybourn Ave
Suite 401
Chicago, Illinois 60614
Prosper has been feeding more than 15 caregivers that support Gabrielle and other young cancer patients at Comer since the beginning of her treatment in March of 2022. The gratitude and appreciation for this weekly support has been tremendous.
And finally, if you’l like to keep up with Prosper Chicago, know that Gabrielle is helping with their social media profiles and pages. You can find them on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn. Please let me know if you have any questions about the program or how you can help, and thanks so much for considering giving to such a good cause. We’ll keep you updated on Gabrielle’s progress!
Thanks,
The Silvermans
