President's Thoughts

I would like to introduce myself as the new president of Join the Journey. I am humbled to be at the helm of this outstanding organization and grateful to have an excellent board of directors supporting me in this venture. I have been involved with various aspects of Join the Journey since the year after my own breast cancer diagnosis in 2004; I am active with the Making Waves dragon boaters, I’ve served as a Pink Ribbon Mentor, I have been the editor of the Newsletter, and I’ve been a board member. Now as president, my primary goal will be to continue the good work of my predecessors, Effie Psimos, Patty Allen, and Connie Lexvold, who have worked tirelessly so that those who receive treatment for breast cancer will be supported by others who have “been there.” I will work to continue to strengthen the programs they have set in place in order to carry out our mission: To promote breast cancer awareness in our community and to provide support to individuals on their breast cancer journey.

Another of my goals is to establish closer relationships with our readers, our patrons, and our followers, with improved communication tools and more opportunities for interaction. You will soon be seeing a survey regarding this newsletter as we assess your interests and determine how we can better address those. Please respond with your ideas! Many of you have already checked out our blog and we hope more will participate in that mode of electronic dialogue. Of course our web-site is a staple and we strive to continue our updates and improvements on that.  Check out these new features at www.jointhejourney.us.

Join the Journey has done very well at addressing the emotional and knowledge needs of individuals newly diagnosed with breast cancer with several of our programs, particularly our Pink Ribbon Mentors, our Book Program, and our Chemo Care program. Another of our programs, Making Waves, a floating support group, offers opportunities for social support as well as attaining physical health and well-being, and we are exploring ways to tailor this program to varying physical abilities and interests. We are very interested in your ideas on how to structure this program to suit your needs. 

Finally, as Join the Journey’s programs continue to grow, we are increasingly grateful for those who actively support our mission. Literally hundreds of individuals are involved in carrying out our programs for breast cancer patients. Volunteers are already working on the details of the September Walk, without which there would be no programs. We know growth is not possible without you - our readers, our walkers, our donors. We need your ideas, your energy and your enthusiasm. Please consider ways that you can become more involved in JTJ, as a walk volunteer, an office volunteer, a program volunteer, or a board member. Contact us at jointhejourney@charter.net. We’d love to hear from you!

With gratitude,

Elynn Welle
(Elynn Welle pictured above on left speaking with Connie Lexvold-Past President JTJ)