a full list of our sponsors & donors. - Gilda's Club New York City

Noogieland Bereavement Program for Children$20,000 / YearFor 7 years, Gilda’s Club New York City has run its Noogieland program for children affected by cancer.This program has primarily been attended by children who have a parent or guardian living with cancer.There is a growing need, however, to expand the scope of the Noogieland program to better accommodatechildren whose loved ones have died. The creation of a Children’s Bereavement Program will vastlyimprove the quality of support we can make available to families who have lost a parent or loved one. Atpresent, we have children attending Noogieland who are grieving the death of a parent or guardian who hasdied of cancer. The support they currently receive comes from interacting with each other: talking to otherchildren who have experienced a similar loss helps to reduce the sense of isolation that separates grievingchildren from their peers. This support would be greatly enhanced, however, by the implementation ofa structured curriculum to guide these children through the stages of grieving, and by the creation of acomplementary program to help the children’s remaining guardians communicate effectively to reinforcean emotionally healthy approach to the grieving process.We plan to begin holding a second Noogie Night every week at our Manhattan Clubhouse, specificallyfor bereaved children. This program will consist of a series of structured workshops. Each workshopwill begin with a 20-30 minute exercise exploring an aspect of the grieving process. For instance, in oneexercise children will be asked to envision and draw where their loved one has gone; in another, they willshare stories about the person who has died. This structured support will provide each child with the toolsto cope with their loss in an emotionally healthy manner. The National Mental Health Association hasstressed that when a child’s grieving process is denied or avoided, this is likely to lead to severe mentalhealth problems later in life. It is imperative that we provide the children we serve with the best availablecoping skills to work through their loss.