Partnerships
What started as a dream by founder Danny Cavett, evolved into six camps serving nearly 360 children with various life-threatening and chronic illnesses. A difference is made in the lives of at least 12,000 children and their families each year by our annual camps and ongoing programs. The diagnoses differ ranging from leukemia, heart disease, cystic fibrosis, Crohn’s disease and several others. Their mission is to develop Character, Coping, and Connection for kids battling life-threatening illnesses.
The mission of Food and Shelter is very simple. They feed those who are hungry and wrap our arms around the lost and alone, helping them find their way back home. They believe no person can overcome life’s most difficult obstacles if they are hungry and worried constantly about where they will sleep. The services they provide are the most basic needs of a human being; food and shelter. Women, children and men come for food and shelter. They leave with friends, a support system, and acceptance. They find home.
Nicole Jarvis, M.D. is a patient with Young Onset Parkinson’s Disease. As a doctor, she is passionate about finding cures for all diseases, and improving the quality of life for all patients suffering from chronic illness. As a YOPD patient, she is passionate about making a contribution to finding the cure for the disease that affects her every day. In Oklahoma, approximately 15,000 patients have Parkinson’s Disease. As of 2011, there were NO organizations in Oklahoma dedicated to researching new treatment options and finding a cure for this degenerative, debilitative, neurologic disease. In 2013, she formed the Nicole Jarvis MD Parkinson’s Research Foundation, Inc. The mission of this foundation is to continue to raise money to be used to: 1) raise awareness of Parkinson’s Disease in the State of Oklahoma, 2) help fund services offered throughout Oklahoma for patients with Parkinson’s Disease, and 3) donate funds to the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research in order to fund projects that will lead to improved treatment options and ultimately a cure for this disease that affects Nicole and 15,000 Oklahoman’s, their families, friends, and employers.
United Way’s mission is to improve lives by mobilizing the caring power of communities around the world to advance the common good. They are the problem-solvers, the hand-raisers, the game-changers. They fight for the health, education and financial stability of every person in every community. They create positive and permanent change by forging unlikely partnerships, finding new solutions to old problems and mobilizing the best resources. They measure their success in actual lives changed. These stories are a testament to the difference that communities can make when we come together to create lasting change.