Founder Leaves Legacy of Caring
TEDDY BEAR CANCER FOUNDATION (TBCF), a Santa Barbara based non-profit organization that provides financial and emotional support to families whose children have cancer, has announced the organization’s Founder and Program Director, Nikki Katz, will leave the organization in early 2013 following an extraordinary decade of caring and service to the communities of Santa Barbara, Ventura and San Luis Obispo Counties.
“Nikki,” explains Executive Director Lindsey Guerrero, “has been a visionary for TBCF since the beginning. Her dedication to helping others and her perseverance in the face of enormous challenges has made it possible for this amazing Foundation to serve so many children and families in need. Her legacy of caring has been an inspiration we hope to continue for many decades to come.”
“A decade ago,” recalls Katz, “I had an amazing experience, an epiphany. In an instant I knew what I wanted to do in the coming years, and I refused to believe it wasn’t possible: I wanted to build a support system for local families with a child battling cancer. While I couldn’t change the child’s diagnosis, I could make the family’s journey a little easier. I was backed by some of Santa Barbara’s finest individuals—and encouraged by the people we serve, many of whom have become like family to me. Their encouragement was a driving force behind the creation of Teddy Bear Cancer Foundation. Now, having reached our 10-year milestone, I feel in my heart that it’s time to move on, to pursue my passion for philanthropy and create anew. The realization of this goal has been one of the most amazing experiences of my life so far; I have been humbled and blessed in ways impossible to describe. To everyone who has been a part of this amazing journey, thank you.”
“We are proud of TBCF’s unprecedented success,” continues Guerrero, “and the services we have been able to provide over the past decade. Our strategic planning process will continue to lead and guide us in enhancing the quality and reach of our services, strengthening our partnerships, and in ensuring continued stability. As we move into the next successful chapter of service, we ask our generous supporters to help us fill the gap for families in need. Their support, in the form of a year-end donation, is genuinely appreciated and essential to our mission of providing emotional and financial support to families of children with cancer living in the communities of Santa Barbara, Ventura and San Luis Obispo counties for many more years to come.
TEDDY BEAR CANCER FOUNDATION is a Santa Barbara based non-profit organization. The mission of the organization is to provide financial and emotional support to families of children with cancer who reside in Santa Barbara, Ventura and San Luis Obispo counties. The organization achieves their mission by providing middle to low-income families with financial aid for rent, mortgage, utilities, and car payments, as well as tutoring support and neuropsychological testing, and offers regular emotional support services, holiday support, and coordinates bone marrow drives. TBCF was founded in 2002 by Nikki Katz after she was inspired by a three-year old boy diagnosed with Ewing Sarcoma whose family was being crushed under the financial and emotional weight of their child’s cancer diagnosis. For more information about Teddy Bear Cancer Foundation or to make a donation, please visit teddybearcancerfoundation.org or call 805-962-7466.