Cancer Card Exchange

The weekend after my first chemo treatment I received this card in the mail.  I couldn't believe what all was inside that card when I opened it.  Two gift cards to Target, one for Chick-fil-a, and one for Dominoes.  It was so nice of someone to do this!  Inside the card it was signed Emily Thomas, and in fine print at the bottom of the card was a website for the Cancer Card Exchange. 

Now we were (almost) totally puzzled.  None of us knew anyone named Emily Thomas.  None of us had heard of the Cancer Card Exchange.  For a while I thought they had the wrong person.  But my name and address were on the front.  And, seriously, it had a Chick-fil-a card in there so it obviously was intended for our family :) 

The return address was what gave it away.  Collierville, TN.  I know one single person who lives in Collierville.  My roommate from grad school, Ashley.  We had just reconnected on Facebook a few weeks earlier, and, interestingly, she had asked for my mailing address earlier that week.  Hmmmmmm......

But I was still curious how the Cancer Card Exchange organization and Emily Thomas fit into the equation, so Amber and I looked up the website.  We loved it instantly!  You'll have to get on there and read it for yourselves, but basically Emily is a cancer survivor whose family received a restaurant gift card in their hotel (I think) on their first trip to MD Anderson to treat her cancer.  From that kind gesture was eventually born the Cancer Card Exchange.  She accepts unused gift cards or donations of new gift cards (or she even has a spot to order gift cards online directly on the website!) to send to other cancer patients as a way to brighten and ease the journey they are now on.  I've never met her, but she sounds like an awesome creative woman!

Emily and Ashley......thank you from the bottom of my heart for thinking of our family!!  We are so humbled by your generosity and thoughtfulness.  What a blessing you are to so many families going through such a difficult time.