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HOW CAN YOU HELP JAY'S HOPE FOUNDATION BRING HOPE TO OTHERS? Donations are welcome and tax-deductible. Become a regular Jay's Hope Gem. Collect items for Jay's Hope's Wish Lists. Support Hope 4 the Holidays Get involved with fundraising and other events like their Blind Wine Tasting, Hats 4 Hope, Hawgs 4 Hope, the 5k and Fun Run Trek or Treat, and special funding efforts like Wings of Hope. Learn more about Jay's Hope at jayshope.org, email info@jayshope.org or call 478-238-6360. the heartache and hard times." Gaskins said her family's experience prepared her to serve others. The fact she graduated from Mercer University in human services and social work wasn't lost on her, either. Jay's Hope's first large project happened almost off-handedly. "We started with $500 and our first offering of hope to someone came when we learned of a girl battling a brain tumor," she said. "Her family was at risk of losing their home and our $500 wasn't nearly enough. I didn't want to just throw a little money their way; I felt we should take care of the whole burden. I contacted people to help and, in a few hours, we raised what they needed. I took that as a 'Godwink,' a sign we were doing what we were supposed to be doing." Fifteen years later, she said Jay's Hope has never turned anyone away and that what they can't handle, they find other individuals and organizations that can. In those 15 years, Jay's Hope has developed a Circle of Hope representing their activities and services supported by fundraisers and friends. The circle includes helping in the areas of: • Hospital stays, hotel costs and care gifts. • Travel expenses to treatment away from home. • Mortgages, utilities and home repairs. • Social and emotional support for the entire family. • Educational support and tutoring to stay on track in school. • Uninsured treatments, therapies and medications. Christie Johnson, Jay's Hope's development director, offered a sampling of statistics reflecting the organization's work: • Jay's Hope serves 579 families throughout the state. • The majority, 258 patients, are in Middle Georgia. • Jay's Hope patients are treated at hospitals around the nation. • More than 70 percent of families travel 50-plus miles at some point for treatment. • Camp Hope 4 Kids with Cancer is conducted annually for cancer patients and their siblings, who the organization always includes in its work. Thinking it would start with a dozen in an art camp, the original number was more than 40. In 2021, nearly 150 were involved in a full- range camp — a safe place where other kids understand. • Hope 4 the Holidays is an annual Christmas party where more than 100 individual and business sponsors adopt wish lists of some 250 patients and siblings. There are other Jay's Hope activities and monthly events where children, siblings and parents are served and community built. These include back-to- school bashes, trips to sporting events like Macon Bacon games, Christmas ornament exchanges for moms and, around Thanksgiving, an after-hours night at the Museum of Arts and Sciences that includes animal and planetarium shows, crafts, secret Santa shopping and dinner. "Jay's Hope is great — beyond great," said Kim Mullis. Mullis' daughter, Kinleigh, is 8 and battling a brain tumor. The two just finished five weeks of treatment in Atlanta. "They are a God-send," she said. "They go over-and-above to make sure families don't have a care in the world. They even leave random things on the porch for all my kids. It's wonderful." It's telling how Mullis found out about Jay's Hope. "I didn't," she said. "I'd never heard of them but a volunteer heard about Kinleigh and told them. They got in touch with me and even though I was so overwhelmed with Kinleigh that I didn't get back to them, they kept calling. Last Christmas, during a hospital stay, they told me to make a list for all my kids and they'd take care of it. It made things so much better on top of everything else they do." Kinleigh is Mullis' youngest child and she said when Kinleigh got sick it felt like her whole life had ended. "But she's such a strong girl," Mullis said. "I'm a big crybaby. At times she's told me, 'Mom, quit freaking out. I'm strong.' It's been good having Jay's Hope on our side helping us be strong." Kristie Garnett is a Jay's Hope supporter-volunteer and teacher at Heritage Elementary School. It was Garnett who heard about Kinleigh and told Jay's Hope. "I got involved with them 10 years ago because of what I saw them doing for kids and families," she said. "The more I learned, the more I knew I had to be a part. It's a hard row to hoe for families with children with cancer and there's a special bond Jay's Hope makes because of who Cindy and Jason are and what they've been through. You know when you call Cindy about someone she's going to show up with a smile on her face, a prayer in heart and be asking, 'How can we help?'" DECEMBER/JANUARY 2022 | maconmagazine.com 93