Our Mission & Legacy
This is where we started, who we are, and where we want to go.
Mission
We are dedicated to relieving daily stressors.
We are dedicated to relieving the daily stresses of families affected by pediatric cancer.
Our primary mission is to give support, joy, and guidance to our Sassy Kids and their families as they continue on toward a hopeful tomorrow. We fill in those gaps and missing pieces our Sassy Kids and their Families need yet haven’t found the help.
A world full of hope can happen with your help!
Help us build hope for our Sassy Kids and their families!
Our Legacy
Meeting online in a business networking group, Laura Thomas, Naomi Henke, and Tonya Blackmon, quickly found they shared a deep connection, each having lost a loved one to cancer. Several ladies from the group assisted in the beginning steps of the Sassy Carmen mission while Laura, Naomi, and Tonya took the foundation to the next level. The Sassy Carmen Foundation™ was incorporated as a nonprofit charity 501(c)(3) in August 2020.
Sassy
Laura’s mother, Sassy, had Zollinger-Ellison (ZE) syndrome. ZE is a rare (cancer) condition in which one or more tumors grow in the pancreas or upper part of the small intestine and liver. She passed away at the age of 55 after fighting a 10-year battle via a program through the National Institute of Health (NIH). She had tumors on both her pancreas and liver. She was helping to find a cure for ZE by undergoing many tests for research to better understand the disease. Her participation in research helped find a cure. Unfortunately, the complications from the tests she underwent ended up taking her life. Though this is an unfortunate ending for Sassy’s life, her legacy lives on through her dedication to fighting this condition, saving many others in the process.
Sassy loved children -especially babies. It was her life’s dream to be a mother. She struggled as a young woman to become a mother and had many miscarriages between her first and second child. Her struggles with ZE and miscarriages inspired Sassy’s daughter Laura to build her company, Castle Baths®, which uses only ingredients not linked to birth defects or cancer in her products. Today, Castle Baths® has a dedicated Oncology Skincare Line where Laura donates profits back to The Sassy Carmen Foundation™ in honor and memory of Sassy.
Carmen
Naomi’s sister, Carmen, was diagnosed with Stage 3c Breast Cancer at the age of 31, three weeks after her second child was born. Throughout her 2.5-year battle with cancer, she received chemotherapy treatments across the street from the children’s oncology ward. While hooked up to her own treatment, she kept saying how “grateful she was to be on this side of the street as opposed to being a parent across the street with her child being treated.” She could not imagine her child or any child going through what she was experiencing.
Heartbreakingly, at the age of 33, Carmen passed away, leaving behind her husband, two young children, and her sister, Naomi, to whom she passed her torch. Carmen raised awareness about breast cancer, and BRCA1, the genetic mutation she had (and Naomi also has) which put her at an 87% chance of breast cancer. Before her passing, she and Naomi spoke about continuing her message of education, hope, strength, and support to anyone she can.
It took a few years of reeling in from the loss of her sister to find her place in this world to do just that. Partnering with Laura to support those families “across the street” is where her passion for The Sassy Carmen Foundation™ comes from.
Where We Are
Today, we are in the infancy stages of building The Sassy Carmen Foundation™ to support children and families battling pediatric cancer. We are starting small by collecting donations to support the following:
- Creating family memories through “just because” parties and family “dress up to play” photo shoots. This gives the opportunity for the whole family to celebrate and document the “happy” moments in life, removing the negative from their illness.
- Providing transportation resource assistance. We want to guarantee families do not experience “roadblocks” when it’s time for an appointment. Funds will go to paying for tolls, gas cards, and providing rides.
- Exploring ways to assist family members with the day-to-day operations by providing assistance with running errands, grocery shopping, paying bills or even picking up dinner. We are currently offering Zoom assistance with meal planning and prepping. We get the families started with actual custom meal boxes arriving to help.
Where We Want to Go
Childcare services/assistance are the BIGGEST goals for The Sassy Carmen Foundation™. Families going through childhood illness require a safe environment for their child(ren) while they continue to navigate the day-to-day life of working and going to school.
There are numerous obstacles when considering childcare services: Safety, Expenses, Volunteers, and Legalities.
We would love to find a solution that will allow families to benefit from childcare that is not only germ-free but also stress-free; a place where families can go to drop off their children and see our light shining so that they never feel lost, and always know someone is there for them.
A parent with a child with cancer inherently brings more stress than any adult needs. We want to give them a bit of normalcy.