My outlook on life has changed tremendously over the years. The reason: Carolyn’s Compassionate Children, better known today as CCC. Let me take you back to the beginning: summer of 1999. I had just finished 8th grade. Before entering high school, I made a trip to Camp Sunshine, a camp for children with life-threatening illnesses. I went without my parents to spend a week volunteering. What was thought to be just another week in my life, albeit one that would fill me with warm memories, turned out to be much more (an understatement). After this week, I was no longer just a teen transitioning into high school.

I was determined to help alleviate the isolation so many of the kids had described. I kept in touch with the friends I made at camp through letter writing and decided that through this medium more children could be helped. And so CCC was born as a pen pal program linking children with life-threatening illnesses to their “healthy” peers. Why the name, Carolyn’s Compassionate Children? I asked my mom to help me create a name and voila -- Carolyn’s Compassionate Children! So officially it’s our name, but please call us CCC... we’re not children anymore!

Four years later, while navigating my own college search, I realized the lack of financial resources for young adult cancer survivors. To provide support to young adult survivors for college, CCC’s College Scholarship Program was created.

Yet another transition for me from high school to college (Duke University in Durham, NC) and another transition for CCC. We seem to be maturing together!

Together CCC and myself shifted our focus to college. While at Duke, CCC continued to grow. Fast forward another four years and yet another transition occurs in my life: college to real world. Well, you can’t expect CCC not to transition as well! And that it did!

Our new focus: the big picture. That means two things: collaboration and growth. We are successfully awarding college scholarships. And other organizations are awarding college scholarships to young adult cancer survivors; however, each program is segmented from the other. These divisions have created a difficult scholarship search process. Shouldn’t it be easier? Yes! We decided to simplify the scholarship search process. This website, including CCCpedia, is the first major outcome. It is built upon the principle of unification and collaboration. Fueled with energy to provide personalized resources for young adult cancer survivors, there is no end to our growth as a community-- united in the belief that now is everything.

I am thrilled to have you as part of the CCC family.

Best wishes,

I believe that a brighter tomorrow begins with the actions that we take today. I believe that every person, regardless of age or income, has the power to make a difference. People must not mistake that even the smallest act of kindness has the ability to change our world.

I am proud to be a part of the change that CCC is creating for young adult cancer survivors. Not only are we providing access to higher education through college scholarships, we are also forging a movement to change the way people view, think and talk about this disease. From my experience with young adult cancer survivors, I have learned that we must treat each day as a gift, and we must treat one another as a friend. Therefore, cancer is not just someone else’s problem—it affects all of us—and it is time to make a change.

The future of CCC is a bright one. This summer we will launch a new website focused on community, education and hope for young adult cancer survivors. We have also created a database of financial resources called CCCpedia to give young adult cancer survivors access to all of the necessary tools to pursue their dreams of receiving a higher education.

Please join us in the movement to improve the quality of life for young adult cancer survivors. Change begins with you.

Best wishes,

I am proud to work for an organization that is creating change for my generation. As the Scholarship Director, I feel privileged to meet and help an increasing amount of young adult cancer survivors each year. Their stories of courage, survival and hope inspire me to do the best that I can to make their dreams of attending college a reality.

What differentiates CCC from other scholarship programs is our personal approach to each applicant. Responding to every e-mail, searching for resources for others even if it is not in our field, and speaking with scholarship applicants and recipients are all vital components to the CCC community. Connecting with young adult cancer survivors is by far, the most special part of my job.

I look forward to meeting all of our 2009 applicants. Please do not hesitate to contact me with any questions or concerns. Remember that you do not have to navigate the financial road to college alone. We are here to help!

Sincerely,