Hello from Peru!

I’m excited to share a press release announcing the launch of our first program in collaboration with Eli Lilly and Company. On Saturday, October 15, 2016, 20 participants – half of them Lilly employees impacted by cancer – will join A Fresh Chapter in Lima for our first South American program. I am thrilled with this partnership and excited to meet all the participants in a few short days.

To follow the journey on A Fresh Chapter, visit us on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter. 

Terri

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 Los Angeles, California – October 12, 2016 – A Fresh Chapter, a non-profit that heals the emotional scars of cancer, and Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE: LLY), a global healthcare leader, today announced they have joined together on an innovative approach to help individuals deeply impacted by cancer to heal emotionally so they can reimagine their lives and live fully again.

This week, as part of A Fresh Chapter’s Peru Odyssey Program, 20 cancer survivors and caregivers from around the U.S. and the world will travel to Peru. Half of the participants will be Lilly employees who are part of Connecting Hearts Abroad, Lilly’s global employee volunteer program.

“This first-of-its-kind program with A Fresh Chapter will provide our Lilly ambassadors with valuable insights about cancer care in impoverished communities, as well as the support and understanding of fellow cancer survivors and caregivers,” said Sue Mahony, Ph.D., senior vice president of Lilly Oncology. “Importantly, Lilly will learn from the experiences of all these volunteers – and the people they serve in Peru – as we strive to make life better and discover new ways of caring.”

During their time in Peru, all of the participants will volunteer each morning with local organizations relating to health, education and caregiving (arranged by Cross-Cultural Solutions). In the afternoons, they will participate in cultural programs to enhance their effectiveness as volunteers, as well as A Fresh Chapter activities designed to help them understand and proactively address the often-contradictory emotions of an experience with cancer. Included in the program is a three-day trip to the Sacred Valley of Peru to visit Machu Picchu and join events with local cancer survivors and caregivers.

“We are inspired to find in Lilly an organization that shares our values and understands that medical treatment is only part of the journey,” said Terri Wingham, founder and CEO of A Fresh Chapter. “We believe that in order to help people impacted by cancer to truly heal, they need to be given a sense of community and the opportunity to channel their grief and struggle in a positive way.”

The two-week volunteer experience in Peru is part of a broader, six-month A Fresh Chapter program that provides individuals impacted by cancer with support outside of medical treatment, empowering them to play an active role in moving forward with their lives through a structured framework for growth and self-discovery. Participants are helped to expand their focus beyond the disease, contribute in a way that inspires them, and see themselves and their future with new eyes.

About A Fresh Chapter

A Fresh Chapter heals the emotional scars of cancer by blending meaningful volunteer travel with programs designed to reframe adversity, foster connections, and promote personal growth and development. We empower men and women who have been impacted by cancer – either as a patient or a caregiver – to expand their stories beyond the disease while giving back to communities at home and abroad. Audacious and hopeful, A Fresh Chapter transforms the adversity of cancer into an opportunity for people to accelerate post-traumatic growth and create an exponential ripple of good in the world. A Fresh Chapter Alliance Foundation is a federally registered Canadian non-profit with 501(c)(3) status in the U.S. as a project of Social and Environmental Entrepreneurs (SEE), a registered public charity.

About Eli Lilly and Company
Lilly is a global healthcare leader that unites caring with discovery to make life better for people around the world. We were founded more than a century ago by a man committed to creating high-quality medicines that meet real needs, and today we remain true to that mission in all our work. Across the globe, Lilly employees work to discover and bring life-changing medicines to those who need them, improve the understanding and management of disease, and give back to communities through philanthropy and volunteerism. To learn more about Lilly, please visit us at www.lilly.com and newsroom.lilly.com/social-channels.