Last night was a great "test run" for the foundation. After recieving news of a family in a similar situation to what Michelle's family dealt with, we were able to visit a family in need yesterday at the Huntsman Cancer Hospital. From donations made at the time of Michelle's death, we were able to give that money to this family to help with whatever needs they have. It was a great experience for the family and a tremendous experience for us to be able to do it. We look forward to many opportunities in the future to do similar things. I have removed the names of the family to respect their privacy but I have copied and pasted the letter written from us to the family.
I know that you don’t know us but your family’s story holds so many similarities to what our family has been through that we could not ignore it. (name withheld) emailed us and let us know of what you have all been through. My wife, Michelle, suffered through desmoplastic melanoma, a rare form of melanoma for three years. She went through 8 surgeries, radiation, IL2 treatments, and chemo before finally succumbing to the disease in May 2009. Her struggle is outlined in her blog www.bancroftmichelle.blogspot.com. At one point, prior to the counter being reset on the blog there were over 70,000 views. Her story meant so much to so many and it amazes us to see what impact one person can have on so many.
We have worked tirelessly on establishing a foundation in her name, The Michelle Bancroft Cancer Foundation and along with it the Michelle Bancroft Fund www.bancroftfund.blogspot.com. The money raised is to be used to assist families dealing with similar situations to what your family and ours have had to endure. Although the finishing touches have not been put in place, we were able to raise this money through donations by many family and friends after Michelle’s passing in May. We consider this money sacred and are very grateful to be able to give it to you.
(name withheld), your courage has really touched our family over the last couple of days. We are so grateful to be able to help you in some way. Please know that you are in our prayers and we will continue to do what we can to help you throughout this ordeal. We are continuing to do all that we can to make more resources available to you and your family and hopefully in time we will be able to do more to help you.
This money is for you to do with as you see fit. We hope this will help you in making this a very memorable Christmas and hopefully, if even for one day, your family can forget about this disease and create memories together to last forever. May God bless all four of you. Your courage is an inspiration to so many, may this Christmas season be one that you will carry in your hearts always.
Like I said, we were very excited to have the opportunity to do this. We are still wrapping up what needs done to make the foundation official. Some of the things we need to start planning in a website, setting up donation links and fundraisers, etc. If anyone has ideas or resources that would help us, please contact us and let us know. bancroftfund@gmail.com
Once a website is created and we can show proof of the legitimacy of the foundation, we are hoping that this will really take off.
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Good news and updates on upcoming events
The meaning behind the new background
Shortly after Michelle passed away, there were a couple of instances with our family involving monarch butterflies. I have copied some entries from our family blog to explain the signifigance:
Saturday May 30, 2009
Today was a great day with the kids. A friend of ours set up for the kids to meet and ride a couple of horses up in Bell Canyon. The family was so sweet, the horses were so gentle and the kids had an amazing experience. One very special experience was shortly after we got there, a huge yellow monarch butterfly came out of nowhere and almost "kissed" Wyatt on the nose before circling Brooklyn's head twice and than taking off. The lady that owner the horses said in fourteen years she had never seen anything like that at her place, we all looked at each other and all of us agreed that it was likely Michelle that was responsible and in her own little way, dropping by to say hello and I love you to the kids.
July 22, 2009
Yesterday evening after returning from work, Kari was watching Colton play on the grass in the frontyard (and eating dirt) while I was pruning the rose bushes in the courtyard. After throwing the dead stuff away we were just standing there talking when a big Yellow Monarch Butterfly flew down and landed right in front of Kari and I on one of my flower bushes. We both looked at each other and smiled. I reached down to try to pick it up and it acted as though it wasn't afraid of me at all. As I tried to pick it up it jumped off the bush and flew around both of us before going over by Colton and fluttering around him for a second. It caught his attention and he just got a huge smile across his face.
I told him Mommy says hi and he went back to eating dirt. The butterfly came back towards us and landed again right in front of us on another bush. I again tried to reach down to pick it up and it did the exact same thing again before this time flying over towards the other side of my front yard. After circling Kari and I twice, I assumed that was a good confirmation that Michelle must approve of the two of us together. I looked over at Kari and told her "I think Michelle likes you!"
I don't want people to think that I believe for one second that Michelle was reincarnated as a yellow butterfly but I do believe 100% that when someone passes and they go to the "right" place that they likely have certain influence to put certain things in certain places at certain times to remind their loved ones that they are still with them. There have been too many instances since she has passed with Yellow Monarch butterflys to ignore them. It's happened to many members of our family since she passed, unexplainable "coincidences" that give me every reason to believe that she everywhere around us, watching over us constantly. It makes it easier to deal with the pain of her passing to know that she is allowed to pay us a visit from time to time.
(Thank you to Brittany D. for all your help in designing the new look on the blog!!!)
Monday, December 7, 2009
If you want to contribute..
Go to www.paypal.com
Click send money and enter bancroftfund@gmail.com as the recipient. The account is managed by James Moore. He was one of the founders of the foundation and a key contributor to the first benefit dinner for Michelle at La Caille. Please keep a record of your transactions as they shoudl be tax deductible very soon. The committee is in the process of taking all the steps necessary to finish the creation of the foundation and this process should be completed very soon. Make a note
Please let others know about this blog and how to contribute as we are all very excited to be able to put another benefit together for a deserving family very soon.
Sunday, December 6, 2009
In memory of Michelle Bancroft
