Meet Mary Jones and Maggie Davis of Team Maggie For A Cure in Roswell

Today we’d like to introduce you to Mary Jones and Maggie Davis.

Team Maggie For a Cure, Inc. is a 501(c)3 whose mission is ‘to support, educate and provide financial assistance to teens and young adults with cancer who are seeking fertility preservation. According to the National Cancer Institute, there are 70,000 newly diagnosed young adults with cancer each year. Studies show that the various treatments for cancer can decrease fertility for these 15-39 year olds. Owing to more-aggressive and advanced treatment, an increasing number of patients are surviving their disease. Unfortunately, these cancer treatments can also cause infertility, sterility, or early menopause (Jeruss, J. S. & Woodruff, T. K. Preservation of fertility in patients with cancer. N. Engl. J. Med. 360, 902–911 (2009) There is a high cost associated with preserving fertility which is usually not covered by insurance. Through grants such as ours, organizations like yours are able to help serve local communities across the US by not only helping with fertility preservation for the underserved population, but also help to improve the mental attitude it takes to fight the cancer within each patient’s body.

Team Maggie started in Dec 2014. The Team Maggie charity came about because of the personal journey of Maggie Davis, a 24-year old young woman who was diagnosed with breast cancer in Dec. 2013. One of the added burdens Maggie had to face, after receiving the devastating news that she had breast cancer was the possibility of becoming infertile because of the drugs prescribed for treatment. Having to find funding for harvesting and preserving eggs in such a short time for a young adult with no real savings or access to capital is burdensome. During this journey, the idea was born that there should be a resource available to help young women and men in their time of crises: thus, Team Maggie, a 501(c) was created and is the only resource of its kind.

Since its inception, Team Maggie has established its Board, its organizational structure, its mission, vision and has networked with various organizations and experts in this industry. So far our partners include: Walgreens, Reproductive Biology Associates, Northside Hospital, Emory Reproductive Center, Daltile, Oncofertility Consortium, EMD Serono, Imerman Angels, Stupid Cancer, Social Workers and Nurse Navigators. We have raised money through fundraising events and was awarded our first grant in 2016. Through our website, our networking and word of mouth we were able to help 16 men and women with their fertility preservation in 2016. Through our application process and fact checking, if young men and women meet the eligibility criteria the board will meet, review the applications and vote to approve or not to help subsidize the costs for egg or sperm harvesting and preservation.

Our charity receives an average of 5 grant applications per month. While we are a fairly new organization the word is spreading and each month we are beginning to receive more and more interest and applications. That is the challenge we are now facing. Because more young adults are being diagnosed with cancer, increasing survival rates, delayed childbearing and the high cost of preserving fertility our organization is continuing to see an increase in applications and always looking to build new partnerships.

An added benefit we have seen from our grant recipients is once they receive word that their application has been approved and their grant will be funded, their outlook on life improves tremendously. They are uncertain and terrified because of their diagnosis when they are contacted. However, once they know their Dream of Family is Alive their outlook towards their treatment and their fight with cancer is more positive.

Team Maggie’s program to ‘Keep the Dream of Family Alive’ is an ongoing endeavor designed to help young men and women through the most important fight of their life and to provide comfort to them knowing that when they are done with their fight they still are able to have the children they always dreamed about. We offer grants of up to $2500 per applicant which is then given directly to the clinics performing the procedures. Our goal for 2017 is to help fund 50 young men and women with their fertility preservation procedures.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
As the word of Team Maggie is spreading each month we are receiving more and more interest and grant applications. Because more young adults are being diagnosed with cancer, increasing survival rates, delayed childbearing and the high cost of preserving fertility our organization is seeing an increase in applications of which we want to continue to fund. That is the biggest challenge we are now facing which we put in God’s hands. So far Team Maggie has been able to provide for most of the eligible applications we have received, sometimes only offering a lesser amount due to funds at the time.

We have a Team Maggie 5K/10K Sept 16, 2017 in Roswell at the River which is a good way to get some exercise and contribute to Team Maggie. We have some Corp teams forming now that are raising fund for the Team Maggie 5K/10K. We have other fundraisers throughout the year. Check out website for more information: www.teammaggieforacure.org.

Team Maggie For A Cure – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
Team Maggie is the only Nationwide 501(c)3 Keeping the Dream of Family Alive for young adults and teens diagnosed with cancer. A resource that did not exist for this growing group of young people. Imagine being 24 dreaming of getting married and having a family. As a growing number of young adults receive this call saying you have Cancer AND it may affect your ability to have children. WOW!!! Your life has changed forever and you are thrown into a world of doctor’s appointment and fact finding. Nothing good is being received at this point in your life. Then you receive a grant from Team Maggie making it possible to preserve your fertility and Keep Your Dream of Family Alive. It is the only good news you have received in a while and it turns your attitude around. These young people go into chemo or radiation or surgery with a positive attitude which helps their outcome.

What is “success” or “successful” for you?
Success is when Team Maggie is able to help all young adult with cancer who are seeking fertility preservation with enough funding to preserve their fertility if they wanted to.

We look at the number of grants provided for the medications for fertility preservation that Walgreens H.E.A.R. T Beat give out in 1 year and we would love to fund all of these young adults with cancer for the fertility procedure if there is a need.

Pricing:

• $2500 funds 1 grant for a teen or young adult with cancer

Contact Info:

• Address: 227 Hillcrest Dr
  Roswell, Ga 30075
• Website: http://www.teammaggieforacure.org/
• Phone: 678-977-5755
• Email: mary@teammaggieforacure.org
• Instagram: Teammaggieforacure
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TeamMaggieForACure
• Twitter: teammaggie1

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