My husband Nate and I first heard about Cocktails & Caregivers (Cocktails & Chemo at that time) from our good friend who is part of the board of directors at C&C and thought, “oh, that’s awesome.” At the time, we couldn’t understand how vital or “awesome” this organization was.

In June of 2021, we learned that my friend of 20+ years cancer had returned and spread to other organs. Stage 4 colorectal cancer.

Nate spent hours researching, “What do you do when your friend has cancer”. The answer, just do something.

We talked about how much our hearts hurt for Zak to fight this again, but we also couldn’t stop thinking about Kristen as the caregiver. She held the family and their business together the first time he was diagnosed, and she was ready to step up and do it all again. Being a wife and mother, I couldn’t imagine how Kristen could handle it all. We wanted her to be seen, heard, recognized, and supported. We submitted a nomination to C&C, shortly after Kristen received her first care package in the mail, coincidently on her doorstep after returning home from a long trip to MD Anderson in Houston with Zak for scans and tests. We read their story on the Cocktails & Caregivers website as Kristen was honored with a $2,000 #OurTribe Grant to help with child care when she had to be away focused on her husband. We have heard about how Kristen has connected with a group of people that have been in her shoes and truly understand what she is going through.

And lastly, we experienced the fantastic Blue Tie Gala event and saw firsthand how this organization supports its caregivers. We became Martini Club members to continue supporting Kristen and Zak so that others caring for their loved ones can be seen, heard, recognized, and supported. We now definitely understand.