Jazzed for Hope: The Beginning…

 It’s a strange thing that motivates one to volunteer.  It can be out of empathy or compassion, out of frustration or lots of free time; however for us; my sister and I, we saw a need, and we just went to work. You see we were lucky, we grew up with amazing parents who taught us the value of a hard day’s work, of lending a hand to neighbors, and always helping those in need, so the concept of volunteering was not new to our family, however in the fall of 2007 it now had a more clear purpose, a more personal focus.  You see in August 2005 my sister was diagnosed with a very rare form of pancreatic cancer, called a neuro-endocrine tumor.  Our family had never been impacted by this type of cancer and certainly no immediate family member had ever been affected.  Thankfully my sister had a very successful surgery that fall and recovered slowly, but very well. 

 It didn’t take long for her to begin volunteering on behalf of this 4th leading cause of cancer death. In the summer of 2006 she founded “Tammy’s Trailblazers” and raised $17,000 for the American Cancer Society through Relay for Life.  That was a wonderful experience where the team committed to raising money and walking for 24hours straight, Tammy and I did the overnight shift.  There was something oddly beautiful about walking all night, gazing up at the stars and thanking God that you have the ability to give your time and still have your sister by your side.  By all accounts it was a hugely successful first endeavor. 

 Fast forward to 2007, both my sister and I knew Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month was in November, and we were disappointed to see that there was not a local event happening in the Madison area. She wanted to change that, so after doing a little digging, she found out that Madison was already in the process of starting a Pancreatic Cancer Action Network Affiliate.  After a little more digging we went to our first affiliate meeting.  We raised the idea about having an event in November 2008, and while people thought it was a good idea, no one was stepping forward and taking the lead, so we did.  We felt that in addition to raising awareness about the disease, we needed to raise money so that researchers would be able to conduct studies that lead to early detection and screenings tools, and ideally a cure.  I remember vividly at that first meeting, the few people in attendance felt like there was no way we could pull of an elegant fundraiser in less than nine months, but we did it.  In fact our first year we raised $95,000.  We are now poised to enjoy the 2nd Jazzed for Hope on November 7, 2009 and it promises to be bigger and better than last year. 

 Planning and executing a large event isn’t the only awareness we’ve brought to the Madison area.  We’ve attended health fairs, handed out literature at the Farmer’s Market on the square, created floats and walked in parades, asked for proclamations from various counties, cities, towns, and villages and even went to Washington DC to advocate for more funding.  All of this we do in the hope that others will not be faced with a “you have cancer” diagnosis.  

 We’ve learned a few things about volunteering these last few years, the most important being is that you have to keep it fun.  Sometimes people get really deep into their roles, and start micro-managing or dictating; this may work from the corner office but doesn’t work well when you are working with passionate volunteers who are giving of their free time.  Thankfully, we’ve been told; that my sister and I are pretty fun, and that is why we have had a strong group of core volunteers that are helping again this year. 

 My sister and I are very proud of starting Jazzed for Hope and raising significant money for pancreatic cancer research. We are very humbled by the dedicated volunteers who give tirelessly to help our vision and fight against this disease.  Finally we are very honored, for all the new friends we’ve made along the way, and the many stories of those affected, some worse than our story.  We are proud to be a part of finding a cure.  Our story is interesting, but not unique; you could do the same, find your cause, and say yes to volunteering today! 

Julie Olson Simani
MS, RN, CBE, CQIA
Jazzed for Hope Co-Founder