Bunny has let us know that there are a number of people who would like to find out whatever happened with the exercise book that Chris wrote to help people who have cancer, as quite a few people contributed to help get the book published. The answer is that a lot has been going on, maybe a little too quietly. So here's a note to give everyone a long-delayed news update.
First of all, Chris wrote the book while he was working with Regan, a close friend and co-worker of his from the Bay Club. Chris and Regan spent time weekly in the office of a UC San Francisco-based oncologist who helped them initiate the IMPACT program, a major cause that Chris dedicated himself to starting up at the Bay Club. IMPACT stands for "Integrating Medical Professionals and Certified Trainers," and the program has been doing just that. (The Bay Club prides itself on providing a significant amount of community service and philanthropy, and has done a wonderful job so far with the IMPACT program, which has in the past three years provided exercise services to over 100 people.)
One of the critical elements of IMPACT involves training more personal trainers so they will have the skills to help cancer patients/clients. And that's where Chris's book has come into play, so far in draft form. We have begun to put plans in place to add illustrations and photography in advance of getting the book published, and also to expand the IMPACT program beyond San Francisco and the Bay Area, where both the book and the IMPACT program have so far been extremely well received.
For example, Regan has been able to use copies of Chris's book material in Bay Area workshops, including an upcoming training session to be held in Berkeley. The constant question arising from people who see the material is this: "Where can I get copies of this? There's nothing like it out there!" Pretty amazing to hear that.
For the longer term, a group in Berkeley that supports people with lymphedema has taken up plans to help get the material published in actual book form.
One of the areas we've been focusing on has been to understand how to reach the largest audience over time with Chris's book, and to help more oncologists and trainers provide services in a coordinated way, such as by expanding the reach of the Bay Club's IMPACT program. That will be a realization of Chris's dream, and we want to see it happen. To do that, Regan, Mike, and Bill have started up a non-profit organization to solicit funds and develop an "IMPACT program in a box", which will eventually let us expand the program-- including the book-- and export it to other cities.
So far, Chris's dream of seeing personal training services join with medical care has occurred in a very spotty way in only a few places in the country. Our new non-profit, which we've named Sunflower Wellness, Inc. (after Chris's favorite flower, symbolizing healing and strength), has a mission to develop well-coordinated non-medical cancer support services-- especially exercise training-- for people living with cancer and other life-threatening conditions. To do this, Regan, Mike and Bill have been working on several efforts, including starting the non-profit and working on a website system that will allow us to put IMPACT "in the box" so to speak, to expand to other communities.
So where are we? We incorporated Sunflower Wellness late last year, and spent the first part of this year finishing our extensive IRS non-profit application. We held our first board meeting on June 4, voted ourselves in as officers (no one else came!), then on July 13 this year we filed our IRS Form 1023 seeking status as a non-profit charitable organization. This effort took a lot of work, and the next step-- we are told-- is a long, long wait. We're hoping to hear back from the IRS sometime before the end of this year. Once we achieve the non-profit status of a 501(c)(3) company we can step up our fundraising by soliciting tax deductible contributions. That will help our efforts a lot.
As for the website, well, that part will take a while, but we have been making strides in designing and putting together early development (our second version of the basic website is just about to see the light of day). You can see some of the results (please don't be too critical-- we're just getting started!) at http://www.sunflowerwellness.org.)
And finally, Regan was recently promoted by the Bay Club to run the IMPACT program as its official director. That's a big deal. She now spends two days per week in the UCSF offices-- she's even got business cards and voice-mail.
We'll try to get another note out before the end of the year to keep everyone posted about our activities. In the meantime, we hope everyone has had a happy and healthy summer.