Join us as we chat with Alisa Savoretti, the resilient founder and CEO of My Hope Chest, a charity that aids uninsured and underinsured women in managing the cost of breast reconstruction surgery post-cancer. Alisa spills the beans on their monumental 20th-anniversary rebranding, the thrilling success of their recent events, and the crucial role Hope Floats, their third-party event campaign, plays in their fundraising saga.
But wait, there's more! We also get a chance to hear from Bonnie Medina, a brave beneficiary of My Hope Chest, who takes us through her challenging journey and how My Hope Chest was her beacon of hope during those dark times. Alisa further elaborates on the organization's rebranding and its current needs from leadership to financial backing and volunteer involvement. This conversation is an eye-opener for anyone looking to make a difference or lend their support to a cause that is genuinely transforming lives.
To help out or learn more, please visit www.myhopechest.org. You can also email Alisa at info@myhopechest.org.
Join us as we chat with Alisa Savoretti, the resilient founder and CEO of My Hope Chest, a charity that aids uninsured and underinsured women in managing the cost of breast reconstruction surgery post-cancer. Alisa spills the beans on their monumental 20th-anniversary rebranding, the thrilling success of their recent events, and the crucial role Hope Floats, their third-party event campaign, plays in their fundraising saga.
But wait, there's more! We also get a chance to hear from Bonnie Medina, a brave beneficiary of My Hope Chest, who takes us through her challenging journey and how My Hope Chest was her beacon of hope during those dark times. Alisa further elaborates on the organization's rebranding and its current needs from leadership to financial backing and volunteer involvement. This conversation is an eye-opener for anyone looking to make a difference or lend their support to a cause that is genuinely transforming lives.
To help out or learn more, please visit www.myhopechest.org. You can also email Alisa at info@myhopechest.org.
R-E-A-R-E-A-R-E-A-R-E-A.
Speaker 2:Audio R-E-A-audio R-E-A-audio R-E-A-audio R-E-A-audio, r-e-a-audio, r-e-a-audio Reemployability Reemployability.
Speaker 3:Reemployability.
Speaker 2:Season 3.
Speaker 3:Ha, ha, ha ha ha. Alisa Severetti is the founder and CEO of my Hope Chest and Bonnie Medina is a surgery recipient that benefited from the great things that the folks at my Hope Chest are doing, and we are so fortunate to have both of you on R-E-A-audio. I want to start off Alisa now. We were fortunate enough to talk last year during October, during Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and we're going to talk a little bit about that in just a few minutes, but can you update us on some of the things that have been happening at my Hope Chest? You're celebrating your 20th anniversary, if I'm not mistaken.
Speaker 1:That's a big celebration. Yes, todd, I just want to say thanks so much for having us on your podcast today. My Hope Chest is always grateful for the community support, you know, to get our message out. We've been around 20 years this December and people are still learning about the charity. So, again, can't ever have enough sharing of the good work and God's work that we do. What's happened new since last year was I'd share with you. Before we had, you know, like everybody else, kind of come through the pandemic and still floating, so that's a miracle. You know Bonnie's going to tell her story of the journey during that time trying to help women during the pandemic and what have you?
Speaker 1:Last year we rebranded so the organization. We've got a new logo, a new website. I was hard pushed on that one because I really loved our logo and everything. But one of my board members was like you know, it's time to rebrand. I'm like, ah, anyhow, I would love for your viewers to go listeners to go to MyHopeChestorg and check out what we have going on there. Obviously, if people need some help, you know you'll see right in the homepage not only the women that we've helped but also how to apply for help. So the rebranding was a big thing in 2021.
Speaker 1:We actually didn't do an event in 2021. We've been, you know, slow to go since the pandemic, you know where a lot of the focus for our community and our country's food, clothing and shelter organizations, understandably. So the beginning of this year we were excited to do our first event In quite some time. It was called the T for 2, tee for TWO, Charity Topgolf Classic, and we held that at Topgolf in Tampa because the one at St Pete wasn't even built yet. So that was a wonderful success. We had some great supporters there. Topgolf was always fun. We had some sponsors. Suncoast Credit Union was one of them. I think we had the Elks Club and forgive me for the other one, I don't remember. It's on our website, but that was a great time out. Again, bringing back into the community, sharing what we do, is really, really important. So you know where we're at right now.
Speaker 1:October we know it in our camp, of course you'll hear me say is breast cancer action month. I feel that after a good 30 or 40 years of you know that breast cancer awareness campaign going around, everyone in America should pretty much know about it. I always remind people breast cancer awareness isn't a formal organization, it's not a charity you can give money to. So we want to encourage them to. You know, view my hope chest and our important mission of providing breast reconstructive reconstructive surgery for uninsured and underinsured women. So you know, that's that's really what our focus is this month.
Speaker 1:Breast cancer action month is our third party event campaign, which is in its 11th year. We're calling it this year Hope Floats in October for survivors and those. Those marketing bits are on our Facebook and socials. But really what that is is like what you all are doing is businesses, civic organizations, community groups, individuals rallying to raise money for our organization and they can do anything from, you know, bake sales to denim days, to we have motorcycle rides and, honestly, I just had a call, since you and I've spoken last, from a gal out in Texas that has a food truck park and they're partnering with the fire department out there that usually does their shave shaving for breast cancer months, so that just popped up. They're hoping to raise at least $5,000.
Speaker 1:And those are the kind of you know exciting moments for me here sitting in the organization after 20 years, that people are finding us if they do a little bit of research, and so that's the way that the organization raises money easier.
Speaker 1:I call it raising money in our sleep, that we don't have to rally volunteers, we don't have to spend money on events. You know, back in the busier days 2018, 17, we'd have 10, 15, 20 third-party events listed on our Facebook page. So when people know that they can raise money at any time, it's not just October hope floats for my hope chest all year round. So that's what we have going on right now. The year end is the big fundraising push for all organizations Children, animals, the environment. You know, I just encourage people to, you know, give it the grassroots level where the power of their dollar has so much more of an impact on the mission of that charity. So that's kind of you know what we're looking for. I guess we can wrap that up later what we're looking for, but it's kind of the overview of what's going on right now.
Speaker 3:Well, we you know I did a little bit of in the beginning of the podcast talked a little bit about what the mission was of my hope chest and I know we talked about it last year, lisa but your story and how you created the organization is so interesting. You know, I think that when people think about giving to breast cancer awareness or giving during the month of October to anything that has to do with breast cancer because you know cancer as a whole just I don't know that there's anybody in this world that's not affected somehow by someone with cancer. So it definitely goes to most people's hearts and they want to give because they've all been affected. But I think what my hope chest does is something beyond what people would normally think is part of the process of recovering from breast cancer. So can you talk a little bit about your story and how you came to create my hope chest?
Speaker 1:I sure can. Yeah, so my hope chest, you know, up until about two years ago, was the only charity in America funding breast reconstructive surgery for uninsured and underinsured women. Our mission picks up where all others leave off, providing the final step of breast cancer treatment. We say we make women whole again in body, mind and spirit. This was not my dream. I am an entrepreneur. But, you know, starting my hope chest, there was no. Oh, I want to have a charity and all of that.
Speaker 1:I got diagnosed at 38 years old, building an e-commerce business, and I spent two years focusing on that project. And right when I got ready to launch, at the end of 2001, I found a lump in my breast and I had no insurance, because often, you know, entrepreneurs are putting money into their project but don't really want to spend 600 a month on their insurance, or they can't afford to. So, right when I got ready to launch the website, instead of doing that in December of 2021, I went in for a biopsy. I couldn't qualify for Medicaid, which they try to put you on emergency Medicaid. That's really what social services I like to tell people. If you're uninsured, you start at the health department, so that's where you're going to call and they're going to try to get you on emergency Medicaid to help take care of you. But I got denied Medicaid because I didn't have children. There's only so much money, you know, in that fund, but Pinellas County Social Services did have funds that paid for my mastectomy on March 4, 2002.
Speaker 1:And the eight rounds of chemo that followed my story, you know what you're alluding to. That makes it a little more unique is I actually had a career in entertainment and I made a living with my body. I was a professional dancer in Las Vegas. I did several shows there and was blessed to tour around the world a little bit, and so when I finished, you know, my chemo, I had borrowed $60,000 off my charge cards to launch my e-commerce business, and those bills didn't go away. And thankfully, my producer in Vegas became a friend and asked me afterwards you know how would you like to come back to the show? And honestly I said hell, yeah, you know, when you're sick, all you can think about is who was I? What did I do before this, right Before this year of our life that we have to step back from? So on March the 10th 2003, I flew from Tampa, landed in Vegas and went straight from the airport into rehearsals. In six days I was doing two shows a night, six nights a week, minus my breast. They patted my costume. I called myself the lopsided show girl because I could make fun of me, but it was more of a marketing angle that I knew that the media would get ahold of that and they did. And we did our first newscast in Las Vegas in 2003. And it was through the help of a woman's group out there, actually me sharing my story. Obviously, you get very moved when something happens to you.
Speaker 1:I spent, I forgot to mention. You know I started calling in the Tampa Bay area after my mastectomy how I could get my reconstruction, and I called American Cancer and they don't do it. I called Susan G Coman they don't do it. I called Moffitt Cancer Center and all the big guys and they can help you if you start with them, but they don't help you if all you need is reconstructive surgery. We do a lot of delayed reconstruction.
Speaker 1:So you know I spent three years without my rest in my 30s and it was horrible. And you know it's bad enough to hear you have cancer and then you, you know, take meds for a year that may or may not make you feel well. But then to get out the other side and say, geez, louise, I'm looking in the mirror, I'm looking down and I'm like you know, all I see is a scar and no hope. And so, you know, after looking nationally, I still couldn't find any help, no organization. So that's why I started my Hope Chest, and December, the third of this year, will be, you know, 20 years. Can't even believe it. I thought this was a three to five year project, you know, and I was gonna be out and onto my other projects.
Speaker 1:But you know, when you birth a business, non-profit organization for one thing and then birth it in the breast cancer arena, you're up against a lot of tenured organizations. So you know, that's why I said this is really important to us. Thank you again for letting us share these stories, because we're here and we're worthy and we need capital. We have a wait list. My Hope Chest receives referrals from Susan G Coleman and from the American Cancer Society for years, but still no funding.
Speaker 1:So it's a little bit frustrating, I'm saying a little bit and that's a euphemism, but I'm still ever hopeful and we're ever hopeful that you know some movers and shakers in the Tampa Bay area or anywhere in the country or world that's listening to this today will say, wow, you know, I had no idea women were living without their breasts in the most heavily fun and cause in our country. It's a problem. So you know, we started a study, a survey. It's on our website, it's called the Breast Reconstruction Survey and it's to help gather data. If you go looking to see actual data of how many women fall in the gap of breast cancer, breast reconstructive surgery, there's no data. So they can tell you how many mastectomies you know the American Stadia Plastic Surgeon or reconstructions they did last year 101,000. But how many of those women didn't know where to go or where to begin? So that's who we find and we also help women, just so we're clear, with insurance. We pay their co-pays. It's more of a body story. We help women from the beginning that have absolutely nothing and we have to find a surgeon, an anesthesia doctor and a facility.
Speaker 1:I basically birthed the most complicated breast cancer organization in the country. My brother told me that, that it wasn't going to be easy. I said, oh, yes, it is. I said you know my people here that women are missing their breasts are going to throw money at this cause and you know what I learned the hard way. It's like in any business. If you have a large marketing budget to get your product, your widget or what have you out there, people are going to know you there. But we didn't have that. We did have a PR firm that volunteered for a few years and we are looking for that as well again.
Speaker 1:But anyway, that's where we are. We've helped women all over the country. We've flown a gal three times from Noam, alaska to Seattle Washington. We partnered with Angel Flight years ago. I was very proud of that. I'm proud of everything that we do because it's really been a grassroots effort with a couple of employees before and you know just a lot of hard work. But we have a very good reputation in our community. We've been honored by the Bucks and the Lightning and the DeBardalow Family Foundation. We've been in People magazine, oprah Magazine, we've had a lot of added girls nationwide. That's really wonderful. But we need action and doers and people to get involved with the organization.
Speaker 3:Well, bonnie, is your story similar to Alisa's? Like, tell us a little bit about how you came to find out about my Hope Chest and, if you don't mind, a little backstory of how you got there.
Speaker 2:Sure. So I got diagnosed at the age of 44. Same thing, you know, came out the shower lotioning up and I felt a lump and I'm like, hmm, this is kind of strange, never had this before. But I kind of prolonged my physical only because I had just gotten a new job. Benefits doesn't kick in for a certain amount of months because you know you have to be employed X amount of days before you can actually have insurance. So I prolonged my exam for this lump that I had found. So time went out. I think I had to wait three months. Finally, after three months, that's when the doctors were kind of questionable, thinking that hey, this does not look good, this might be cancer.
Speaker 2:After I got diagnosed, I went through all the treatments, of course the chemo, radiation. At that time insurance kicked in a little bit but you still have the extra. It's your insurance is not going to cover everything. So of course you still have all the extra bills the medical, the surgery and everything. Because I did have to have a bilateral mastectomy because my cancer was already spreading over to my other breasts, because I kind of waited. So after a whole year I there was no talk about surgery only because I needed to be cancer free for a whole year before I can have any type of mastectomy or thinking of any prosthetics or anything. So I had to wait a whole year. That whole year I was. I was ecstatic. I did not want to know anything about no surgery, no, nothing. I was just happy enough to beat cancer, finished treatment and just recuperated and get back to life.
Speaker 2:But then it started affecting me. After that one year went up. Of course I couldn't find the cute little low cut. I couldn't wear those anymore. The little cute little spaghetti strap shirts. I had to. I love the beach. I couldn't wear a regular bathing suit. I needed to wear something to cover all the way up here because I had nothing. Didn't think that was gonna affect me mentally, physically, but it did. So then I started doing research. Okay, maybe I should go through the surgery and see what it's about. And I was scared of surgery because it was a rough full year of chemo, radiation, the surgery, mastectomy. I didn't wanna go through anything anymore, but it was affecting me physically and mentally.
Speaker 2:Turn on the TV and there's Alyssa talking on one of the TV news about my hope. Chest Right wrote down all her information, went online real quick and I'm like this must be a sign like this is where maybe I can get help. Because, like she said, I did turn to the other foundations that help breast cancer and I got turned away from everybody. You know I explained, I was like, hey, I need help for my bills. I still got medical bills, I still have my surgery bill, my chemo, and now I wanna get this surgery done and I know certain places cover it and everybody turned me away. Everybody said no. And I'm like this is so weird because I participate every year and all these events for breast cancer to raise money. I mean I was like with coworkers raising money and everything and to be turned down and said, sorry, you need to go to your local charity or your local foundation to find assistance. It was like a big slap in the face for me so it was really depressing.
Speaker 2:But when I came to my hope chest, I filled out the application and then, when it came down to financial, I'm like, uh-oh, this is where it might be a little problem, because I am in healthcare, I do have benefits, I do have healthcare, but my deductible was high. I still had all the leftover medical bills from all the previous surgery and chemo and radiation, I was like I might not even qualify because you're gonna think, oh, she makes great money, but little do they know what all my debt is from everything previous. So I kind of hesitated, didn't fill out the rest of the application and I just left it there. But then Alyssa reached out to me and said hey, I received the application but you didn't finish it. So I kind of explained to her my story about why I didn't finish it and she's like that doesn't matter, you still have a deductible, you still have bills out there. Finish your application, we'll take a look at it. And sure enough, she walked me step by step, did not turn me away, sent her all the information I needed.
Speaker 2:I went to her website and I saw all the other women's stories that were very similar to mine, varying from all different ages, all different needs that they had. Some just need assistance with their mortgage, some of them need just assistance with their medical bills. Some of them need to feel whole again by having this last step of the reconstruction, to feel a woman again. So it was a little bit of everything. And I read the website and I'm like this is amazing. Like why do people not know about this wonderful foundation that Alyssa has created and it's just not out there. So this is why I'm willing to tell my story, because a lot of women think, okay, how am I gonna pay for this mastectomy now? Or how am I gonna go and get reconstruction? Or it's always about the medical bills as well. So I was blessed to go ahead and be accepted to be a member of the foundation as well as to go over my reconstruction surgery with one of the best surgeons here in South Tampa as well.
Speaker 2:Shout out to Dr Buchanan, because he went ahead and stepped up when all the other doctors were, well, I'm not too sure, oh well, I don't know and I need more information, but he stepped up to the plate and he's like you know what sure I'll go ahead and do it. So he was able to go ahead and get, with Alyssa and along with my insurance plan and everything that I had. We just worked it all out together to figure out how we were gonna get this procedure done. Everything was planned, we had a date, we had everything, and then, of course, what happens? Covid happens. So everything just got put on hold.
Speaker 2:I was excited, I was getting ready, and then for them to sit there and say no more planned surgeries, only emergency surgeries were only being allowed at that time, no elective surgery. So I was put on hold, just waiting and waiting and waiting. I don't even know. We kept having a date and then it just kept getting pushed back and pushed back and I started getting nervous because then I'm like maybe this isn't meant to be, maybe I'm not meant to have the surgery. You start having all these second thoughts. But Alyssa just kept saying don't worry, it'll happen, it'll happen, and she stayed with me during the whole time and then finally I was able to go through the procedure and, like I said, it's been a blessing because everything from pre-op, all the way to recovery, all the way through all my treatments, everything was taken care of through my hope chest.
Speaker 3:So Well, alyssa I'm curious about. So is Bonnie's story pretty common, I guess I think in Bonnie, the thing that really really stands out to me is your hesitancy to complete the application. Yes, and so, like Alyssa, do you see that women are hesitant, that maybe, for whatever reason, they feel like they won't qualify, or I hate to say it this way, maybe I'm saying it wrong but like their case isn't special, or their case isn't important, or for some reason they aren't deserved of benefiting from an organization like yours. Do you see that a lot?
Speaker 1:You know, there's just so many stories and so many reasons why I mean some women, their husbands leave them amidst treatment because they can't stand the way they look. There's just. I've heard every kind of story. Yeah, that's the most horrible of all, but the underlying thread is for one reason or another, they hit the wall. Something that people should know is this isn't we don't exist.
Speaker 1:The people we help are not necessarily indigent. Right, you know Bonnie was a nurse. You know they have, like she's sharing other bills, my hope, just so. We know we focus on reconstructive surgery and non-medical bills during the reconstructive process. That's what we do and Bonnie did have insurance. She didn't have the money for her copay and she didn't have a surgeon, like she said, willing to get going. The surgeon, the surgeon, dr Buchanan, is Vivify plastic surgery, so I just want to get the shout out to him. He was new to the area. Now he's really grown his business.
Speaker 1:But yeah, the women have different reasons and you know, if I see someone stop an application, people forget. You know, these women are still mothers, they have children, they're still wives. They're trying to juggle all the balls in there and I don't think they don't think they're not worthy, but they have always put others before them, especially if they're mothers or even if they don't have children. I didn't have children but I had a mother that had been in and out of the hospital a lot and what have you. So I can't tell you the importance of what we do and you know it's really that there's no other entity, like I said, nationwide. One just started a little one out in Texas. But you know, in Tampa Bay we've been the go to. We work with Dr Antonio Galloso of Galloso Plastic Surgery in St Petersburg. He started the organization. I met him. He was keynote speaker and I went and I went up and I pitched him right after I'd moved back from Vegas, told him what I did. He said call me at the office and then he was in and he was the chief of plastics at St Anthony and Bayfront. So you know, good people are doing good things.
Speaker 1:Again, we just need some visionary folks out there, like Tampa Bay has. You know I'm going to shout it out about caneers have a treasure chest run and the proceeds benefit Moffitt's Advent Health American Cancer Society and it's called the treasure chest run. You know, I've called them. If anybody knows anybody at the box. I'm just putting that out there that you know we should be a part of that run as a beneficiary. So you know, I don't know if you're going to be using that or not, but it's. It's something else that needs to be heard. You know I'm not afraid to ruffle some feathers here. I've given 20 years of my life and this isn't my company, it's yours. It belongs to people and the listeners. This is a nonprofit 501c3 charity and we need, like I said, more visionaries and sustaining visionaries as well.
Speaker 3:Bonnie, are you still working in healthcare?
Speaker 2:I do yes.
Speaker 3:I do so. Do you have the ability or do you? Do you oftentimes share your story with folks when you come into contact with people in your same type of situation?
Speaker 2:Yes, actually, I come across a few females who who are going, because I do work in surgery. I've come across a few of my own patients that were recovering from mastectomies coming out crying, you know, and I hold their hand and I kind of tell them, hey, this is just the beginning, this is nothing, this is what you have forward to look for. I was in your shoes and I tell them about my hope chest, you know. I tell them this is the website. You go on there, you apply. You know this is this is not the ending for you. So it's been amazing how sometimes God works in mysterious ways that he will send certain patients my way that actually need to hear that. So, and that's happened, I would say, maybe twice, three times this year that I've come across with that. So it's been amazing, yeah.
Speaker 3:Well, I would say that the number one blessing from both of you is that you're both cancer free now. So thank God for that. I think that's, you know, the number one thing. And secondly, you know, I think that you know, people don't always as we mentioned earlier people don't always think through. This is an entire process and and what you're doing, alisa, is phenomenal and you know, we're really proud to be a very, very tiny part of what you're doing. At reemployability for breast cancer action month, we are making a donation to my hope chest. We're located in the Tampa Bay area, obviously, the organization is located here, but you are nationwide, right, you're helping people all across the country, am I right?
Speaker 1:We help at home, so people that give them what the money to stay local. You know we help at home first If there's a woman that's, you know, on our list ready to go or what have you. We help women in the order that they come to us wherever they are, but we do help at home first. So people will have to worry. You know I don't want the money going elsewhere. It doesn't go anywhere if we have people here that need our help.
Speaker 1:But not everybody sees. You know haven't been on television this year on the news like Bonnie did see us. There are people find us in different ways but yeah, we help women wherever they are and again, I just want to make sure everyone knows that it's insured women, uninsured women. We're just getting ready to pay a gal's mortgage October, november, december. I said that's your Christmas present and she was so grateful. You can imagine, right With the mounting bills and all of that. So yeah, I'm just hoping that we have a great, great October, a great ending of the year and lots of folks within your company and wherever they hear this story.
Speaker 3:Well, one other thing that really takes me back, Bonnie, about your story is how Alisa was directly involved in the whole process and as the founder of an organization. You don't always see that and I know it's because you're kind of wearing every hat right. Alisa Certainly understand that. We talked about that a little bit last year and what you had mentioned was you were kind of on the search for someone to become more involved, to kind of at some point take the reins of the organization and move forward. Is that still the case? Are you still looking for someone, or members of the board of directors?
Speaker 1:Well, yeah, we're looking for several things. So, you know, during the pandemic I have to go back to that I had staff member pass away, so we were in a restructure. The charities, you know, just needs to replenish our funds and our human resources. I'm at some point moving on. You know, I'm ready to go move on to some other projects that I've had on the backburners for a couple of decades. So we're looking for a new leadership in the capacity of CEO of the company, executive director, the client navigator role. Like normally I wouldn't be doing all this. I mean, I do talk to some of the patients, but we had that position and that's a really important position. It can be a volunteer position right now, but people to navigate, you know, it really is Christy God bless her that had worked for me for five years. She, her mother, had passed from breast cancer and that's why she was very passionate to work for the organization. It is very rewarding when you get to tell somebody on the phone that you know it's their turn and you know they've been through hell and back and so that was really good. As far as our board of directors, yes, same situation. You know, I'm looking for new leadership.
Speaker 1:People have rolled off. You know people don't sit on boards for 20 years usually and people have rolled off. But there's also, I know, a lot of folks out there I'm glad you brought it up that are, you know, in a career transition. Maybe because of the pandemic they took an early out at their job. Men and women. I want folks to listen that this is, you know, this affects a family cancer, whatever the disease, not even necessarily breast cancer. But when someone in the household is down or not making their, you know, not able to work, others pick up. But for those that did transition or have been on board looking to move on, we welcome, you know, a conversation and they don't even have to be on the board to help.
Speaker 1:So that's another thing. For real movers and shakers out there, like I can't sit on another board, I'm on five boards, what have you? I say just give me a call. And you know, I know, I know that big deals happen on golf courses and all that jazz. So you know our goal is to raise at least $250,000 to restructure. That would allow us to hire a new executive director, a new client navigator and get some money in the bank for surgery. So I'm putting that out as our, you know, fourth quarter wish list here in 2023. And meanwhile, we just continue to help with what funds we have. And yeah, that's about that's where we're at.
Speaker 3:So if people want to help either financially or with volunteering or a part of that board of directors, Alisa, what's the best way to get a hold of you? What's the best way to get information?
Speaker 1:Thanks. So you know the best way. I just give an email out it's infoatmyhopechestorg Rather than having to search it on the website. But you know, if you go to the contact us on our website, you can go to the website myhopechestorg slash donate. You can go there too if you can't get involved. But yeah, the email is probably the best way and I can give out my phone number 727-642-4243. You can reach the office at that number. I'm ready to have a conversation, so thanks.
Speaker 3:We will. I'll put that in the show notes as well, so people can just click through on the email or make a call as well. So, bonnie, thank you so much for sharing your story. Great addition to talking about breast cancer action month, thank you. You're changing my vernacular, alisa. I'm going to start calling the action month. That's awesome. No, I love that because you're right. You hear so much about it and you got baseball players using pink bats certain months of the year and football players wearing, you know, pink bandanas, but you can wear pink all day long, but until you actually do something to affect somebody's life, you know that's really what we want people to do. So, alisa, best of luck with everything, and we'll make it less than a year. We don't have to wait a whole year to talk. I'm interested to talk to you as we go into early next year to see how things are going and to keep people aware of what you're doing. Thank you for everything that you do and, bonnie, thank you again for sharing your story.
Speaker 3:It was fantastic.
Speaker 1:Thank you, Shout out to, to Reemployability and what you all do, because it's really life changing for people that are in transition and need work. And you know we've got calls from you about volunteering and you know hopefully we can get some people, some some, you know, work at our place. But it's really it's great to know about, about these, these programs, because, again, you know, unless you're on doing commercials and everything, not everybody knows about these things. So keep up the good that you do as well.
Speaker 3:Thank you so much. Thanks for listening to REA Audio. Now we need you to help us out. If you know someone whose story should be told, please let us know. Email Todd at reemployabilitycom. That email address link will be in the show notes as well. We'd love to have you follow REA Audio on Apple Podcasts or Spotify or Stitcher, wherever you get your podcasts. You can also check out more content at listentoreacom. Remember, lead with the good and have a great rest of your week.