Elizabeth Soffer is the 2016 Corporate Marketing Chair
This time of year is one known for reflecting on all the things in life for which we are thankful. For me, the community I have found in Carolina For The Kids is without question one of the most wonderful things in my daily life, and something for which I am incredibly grateful. Since it is Giving Tuesday, a day established to encourage everyone to give back, I wanted to take some time to share with you why I choose to give to Carolina For The Kids.
I applied to join a Carolina For The Kids committee my sophomore year at Carolina, viewing it as an organization that supported a cause that means a lot to me. I distinctly remember sitting in the Undergraduate Library, agonizing over my application as hours passed trying to express what the organization meant to me as someone who had yet to be involved with it. I so wanted to be part of this thing, to be one of those people I saw constantly in the Pit who seemed so passionate about and sure of their cause. I thought I knew the importance of what CFTK meant for patients and families; I thought I fully understood the value of the foundation's work. When I was accepted onto a committee, I felt confident that I knew what being part of this organization meant.
I had absolutely no idea what I was getting myself into.
As I hoped, I found a family of dedicated students and wonderful friends. I found a group that made an impact I cared about. I found a purpose for myself on this campus beyond completing my own degree. What I didn’t anticipate is the degree to which this organization would change the course of my time at Carolina, reaffirming for me the impact I hope to have in my community as an undergraduate and beyond. The past two years have shown me that CFTK is so much more than I previously thought. This is not an organization that simply raises funds and writes a check— Carolina For The Kids Foundation works to fully demonstrate support and genuine care for the people we aim to serve.
At Carolina For The Kids we pride ourselves on the personal, genuine connections we develop with the patients and families of UNC Children’s. Multiple times each week we are within the walls of the hospital serving meals, playing with patients and siblings, and working with hospital healthcare providers and administrators to learn how we can best provide support. We have the unique opportunity to truly get to know the children, parents, families and caregivers with whom we work. We aim to ensure that every kid and his or her siblings and parents feel special, appreciated, and loved. As one parent once put it, we care for the entire family and support them throughout their entire journey. We are there for them both during and after their time in the hospital, and as a result have formed many lasting relationships with these families. We have the immense, sometimes difficult privilege of sharing these families’ stories to explain what exactly it is that we do.
When talking about our organization with businesses and members of the community I am often asked what makes CFTK special. They want to know why I dedicate so much of myself to this cause: “What good does all this time and energy do?” they ask. “How can standing on your feet for 24 hours help a sick child?” These are valid questions that for a long time I couldn’t properly answer. It wasn’t until after I completed my first Marathon that I began to understand what it means to be For The Kids. During Family Hour, a time in which our families speak to Marathon participants to tell their stories, one particular testimonial stood out to me. A mother came to the stage and told the story of the premature birth of her twin daughters. She shared the fear, loneliness, and uncertainty of her time spent in the NICU waiting for them to be well and never knowing what would happen next. She expressed her gratitude for the mission of Carolina For The Kids that incorporates providing emotional support and those seemingly small things that can make the world of a difference: a specialized chair in the NICU that allows a mother to nurse without disrupting her child’s IV wires and vital monitors; a gas card that ensures parents that live far from the hospital can still come to visit frequently when finances are tight; a hug and genuine conversation to make a few of those minutes spent waiting feel just a little shorter.
Her family’s story has what I like to call a “happy continuation”. Her daughters, now in high school, are thriving and come to the Marathon every year. Their family rallies in support of this cause having personally felt the degree to which those little things change the story for the better.
This woman’s story greatly resonated with the crowd as was clear from the many tears and silent hugs between friends in the room. We all had our personal reasons for being there, but in that moment, mine suddenly rang with new urgency and clarity. My family has its own story as do so many families represented in Fetzer Gym that night. Our story began several years before and, in many ways, is ancient history. I always knew my family had been fortunate but it wasn’t until that moment, in hour 23 of my first Dance Marathon, that I truly recognized the magnitude of that good fortune. Our experience, one that was ultimately characterized by good news and substantial support, is not at all typical. There is great need for medical, emotional, and financial support during childhood illness at each and every turn of a family’s story, which is where CFTK comes into the picture. In that moment, the applause following that mother’s story still thundering, standing made perfect sense to me. By showing her and so many other parents that we supported their families in that time of need and in the years since, we made their stories a little happier. By giving up our own time and comfort to stand in solidarity with them, serving directly in the hospital to ease the time spent there, and working throughout the year to raise more than $570,000 to provide the best love and care possible for patients, we had made a difference. In those ways and in so many others, CFTK stands for the purpose of making every family’s story more like my family’s.
These four letters carry distinct meanings for the more than 10,000 people involved in this cause as donors, committee members, dancers and supporters. We cannot accomplish what we strive to do without the generosity of these individuals. Whether in the form of a financial contribution or the giving of time, we at CFTK are grateful for the giving spirit embodied by so many during this season and on this day in particular. This Giving Tuesday, I will be donating to Carolina For For The Kids in order to help further our mission and I sincerely hope you will consider doing so as well. Whether it’s $5 to provide a parking voucher at the hospital or $500 to help eight families with utility costs for one month, your donation will make a difference. Your gift enables happy stories, more smiles, true support, and measureable impact. Whatever your own reason for giving to us on this day and any other, we are eternally grateful that you did so For The Kids.
I applied to join a Carolina For The Kids committee my sophomore year at Carolina, viewing it as an organization that supported a cause that means a lot to me. I distinctly remember sitting in the Undergraduate Library, agonizing over my application as hours passed trying to express what the organization meant to me as someone who had yet to be involved with it. I so wanted to be part of this thing, to be one of those people I saw constantly in the Pit who seemed so passionate about and sure of their cause. I thought I knew the importance of what CFTK meant for patients and families; I thought I fully understood the value of the foundation's work. When I was accepted onto a committee, I felt confident that I knew what being part of this organization meant.
I had absolutely no idea what I was getting myself into.
As I hoped, I found a family of dedicated students and wonderful friends. I found a group that made an impact I cared about. I found a purpose for myself on this campus beyond completing my own degree. What I didn’t anticipate is the degree to which this organization would change the course of my time at Carolina, reaffirming for me the impact I hope to have in my community as an undergraduate and beyond. The past two years have shown me that CFTK is so much more than I previously thought. This is not an organization that simply raises funds and writes a check— Carolina For The Kids Foundation works to fully demonstrate support and genuine care for the people we aim to serve.
At Carolina For The Kids we pride ourselves on the personal, genuine connections we develop with the patients and families of UNC Children’s. Multiple times each week we are within the walls of the hospital serving meals, playing with patients and siblings, and working with hospital healthcare providers and administrators to learn how we can best provide support. We have the unique opportunity to truly get to know the children, parents, families and caregivers with whom we work. We aim to ensure that every kid and his or her siblings and parents feel special, appreciated, and loved. As one parent once put it, we care for the entire family and support them throughout their entire journey. We are there for them both during and after their time in the hospital, and as a result have formed many lasting relationships with these families. We have the immense, sometimes difficult privilege of sharing these families’ stories to explain what exactly it is that we do.
When talking about our organization with businesses and members of the community I am often asked what makes CFTK special. They want to know why I dedicate so much of myself to this cause: “What good does all this time and energy do?” they ask. “How can standing on your feet for 24 hours help a sick child?” These are valid questions that for a long time I couldn’t properly answer. It wasn’t until after I completed my first Marathon that I began to understand what it means to be For The Kids. During Family Hour, a time in which our families speak to Marathon participants to tell their stories, one particular testimonial stood out to me. A mother came to the stage and told the story of the premature birth of her twin daughters. She shared the fear, loneliness, and uncertainty of her time spent in the NICU waiting for them to be well and never knowing what would happen next. She expressed her gratitude for the mission of Carolina For The Kids that incorporates providing emotional support and those seemingly small things that can make the world of a difference: a specialized chair in the NICU that allows a mother to nurse without disrupting her child’s IV wires and vital monitors; a gas card that ensures parents that live far from the hospital can still come to visit frequently when finances are tight; a hug and genuine conversation to make a few of those minutes spent waiting feel just a little shorter.
Her family’s story has what I like to call a “happy continuation”. Her daughters, now in high school, are thriving and come to the Marathon every year. Their family rallies in support of this cause having personally felt the degree to which those little things change the story for the better.
This woman’s story greatly resonated with the crowd as was clear from the many tears and silent hugs between friends in the room. We all had our personal reasons for being there, but in that moment, mine suddenly rang with new urgency and clarity. My family has its own story as do so many families represented in Fetzer Gym that night. Our story began several years before and, in many ways, is ancient history. I always knew my family had been fortunate but it wasn’t until that moment, in hour 23 of my first Dance Marathon, that I truly recognized the magnitude of that good fortune. Our experience, one that was ultimately characterized by good news and substantial support, is not at all typical. There is great need for medical, emotional, and financial support during childhood illness at each and every turn of a family’s story, which is where CFTK comes into the picture. In that moment, the applause following that mother’s story still thundering, standing made perfect sense to me. By showing her and so many other parents that we supported their families in that time of need and in the years since, we made their stories a little happier. By giving up our own time and comfort to stand in solidarity with them, serving directly in the hospital to ease the time spent there, and working throughout the year to raise more than $570,000 to provide the best love and care possible for patients, we had made a difference. In those ways and in so many others, CFTK stands for the purpose of making every family’s story more like my family’s.
These four letters carry distinct meanings for the more than 10,000 people involved in this cause as donors, committee members, dancers and supporters. We cannot accomplish what we strive to do without the generosity of these individuals. Whether in the form of a financial contribution or the giving of time, we at CFTK are grateful for the giving spirit embodied by so many during this season and on this day in particular. This Giving Tuesday, I will be donating to Carolina For For The Kids in order to help further our mission and I sincerely hope you will consider doing so as well. Whether it’s $5 to provide a parking voucher at the hospital or $500 to help eight families with utility costs for one month, your donation will make a difference. Your gift enables happy stories, more smiles, true support, and measureable impact. Whatever your own reason for giving to us on this day and any other, we are eternally grateful that you did so For The Kids.