Meet The Charity Very Dear To Our Hearts: Jay’s Hope

Henry David Thoreau once said that “one is not born into the world to do everything but to do something” and here at Hold Your Haunches, we’re trying to do just that. We’re trying to do something. While being the Head Haunchos has its many perks (and we do mean many...our HQ is located next to a liquor store, after all), without a doubt, our greatest pleasure is that we are able to give back.

From the start of our business venture, we knew that we wanted to be a company that shared its good fortune. After all, what’s the point of being successful if you keep it all to yourself? And so, once our business plan was penned and the ink had set, we set out on our very next step -- to find a charity that spoke to us. To find an organization we believed in. To find an organization that we wanted to help. To find an organization that we wanted -- more than anything -- to be a part of.

Enter: Jay’s HOPE, a Macon, Georgia based organization that helps both local families and patients who are battling childhood cancer.

Photo Credit: Jay's HOPE

Founded after their 2 ½ year old son was diagnosed with medulloblastoma, Cindy and Jason Gaskins wished to create a support system for other parents in their same position. While fortunate enough to financially support Jay’s mounting medical bills and their ever growing expenses due to traveling between their home in Macon and St. Jude’s in Memphis, they realized quickly that many other families were not so lucky. But it was their wonderful support system at home that made them want to give back to others experiencing the same plights that they were -- it made them want to make sure that no family ever dealt with cancer alone.

Every day, 43 children are diagnosed with cancer. That is 43 sets of parents -- each day -- who hear the crippling words: “Your baby is sick.” And though Cindy and Jason cannot take away the pain of hearing that, they have made it their life goal to ease the pain of what comes after that terrifying diagnosis.

Photo Credit: Jay's HOPE

Their mission is “to improve [families of patients’] quality-of-life by extending HOPE through social, emotional, spiritual, financial and education support.” Among the multitude of things Jay’s HOPE seeks to provide, their headquarters in Macon has a family resource center which provides families with both resource and inspirational books, computers, and internet access and an on-site teacher who works with patients and families so that among the many, many life-altering things that cancer brings, a loss in education is not one of them. The organization also maintains an apartment in close proximity to the Ronald McDonald house at St. Jude’s which provides a safe, reliable place to stay for families who may not qualify for other assistance. Additionally, Jay’s HOPE plans and hosts monthly meetups for families, ensuring that no one feels alone in this fight. The organization also provides financial assistance to those who qualify.

Tragically, Jay passed away on March 21, 2006...but his legacy lives on through Jay’s HOPE. Thanks to Cindy and Jason Gaskins, no family struggling through a cancer diagnosis will ever have to feel alone again. 

Photo Credit: Jay's HOPE

We are so proud, honored, humbled, and privileged to be working with Jay’s HOPE and are so very much looking forward to sponsoring this wonderful organization at their fundraiser this upcoming weekend. To learn more about Jay’s HOPE please click  here.  To donate, click here.