FALL 2026 NEWSLETTER
Updated: Oct 8
FLOWER FUNDRAISERS
In the last week of July, I received a phone call from my friend Jodie who lives in
Massachusetts. We chit-chatted a bit to get caught up and then she started talking about a
brainstorm she had. Her brother Jim had passed away from cancer a few months prior to her calling me. Jodie and Jim grew up on a farm in New Jersey where they grew flowers that
Jodie often cut and made into arrangements to sell at their store. Over the years Jim planted fields of flowers, and, prior to his passing, Jodie had a visit with him in which he shared his knowledge about planting flowers. Jodie then planted a variety of flowers in a garden plot in Massachusetts and started selling them and giving them away. Then one day in July she had the idea of doing a fundraiser in Jim’s honor to benefit Be Still and Know Inc. Jodie’s daughter and grandson cut some of the flowers, put them in mason jars, and sold
them from a cart. Jodie also invited people to her garden plot to cut their own flowers for a
donation. The August 21-22 fundraiser was a HUGE success and the money raised in honor of Jim will be used, in time, to bring encouragement bags into a cancer center in Massachusetts.
Jodie talked with Jim’s widow Pam about the idea
and Pam agreed to do a fundraiser at the family farm too. Many people honored Jim’s memory by cutting their own flowers in the field that Jim had planted in the spring. The money that was raised in New Jersey will go towards bringing more bags into the cancer center where Jim had been a patient and where they have been handing out the bags for just over a year. We will now be able to give hope and encouragement to many more cancer patients.
celestial seasonings/b strong bike ride
On Saturday, August 8, I took part in this fundraiser by riding the 38-mile loop. The idea for this ride started in 2009 when the doctors at an oncology clinic discovered one of their patients was a cyclist. The doctors were also cyclists and challenged the patient to a 34-mile ride from Boulder to Ward. For those of you not familiar with Colorado, this route has many difficult ascents and near the top has a 12% grade. As they were nearing Ward, their patient was nearing the end of his physical resources. In order to help reach his goal, a doctor got on either side of the patient and literally pushed him toward the finish while all three continued to ride their bikes.
Cancer journeys are hard just like bike rides in the Rocky Mountains. They seldom can be completed alone and the cancer patient needs the support of those around them just like what was exhibited in the first B Strong Ride. Not every cancer patient is a bicyclist but Be Still and Know is a way to help them find not only their own strength but the strength God provides while walking through this challenge with them.
sponsorship update
In the last newsletter I mentioned that Inontime, a company operating out of West Michigan, provided us with a sponsorship. I am excited to announce that thanks to the
sponsorship, encouragement bags will now be available for cancer patients in two more cancer centers in Michigan!
"Hello! I just want to let you know how much your gift package meant to me today. I was (and still am) scared to death doing chemo. Your gift really brough my spirits up. Knowing someone out there that I have never met cares enough and knows what I am going through. You are a Godsend and truly appreciated. Thank you so much! May God bless you and keep you as you have done for others.”
approximate number of bags distributed to date: 4,722
If you know of someone who has been diagnosed with cancer, is under palliative/hospice care due to cancer, or you know of a caregiver who can use encouragement and you would like to send a bag, go to our "Send a Bag" tab to place an order.
Contact Us
Be Still and Know Inc.
P.O. Box 563Bennett, CO 80102
616-826-1906
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