Cancer affects everyone, including adolescents and young adults who are at increasing risk of developing certain types of disease. It’s a particularly challenging time of life to receive a cancer diagnosis. Many cancers in younger patients can be aggressive, and treatment can be complicated, expensive, painful, and isolating for young people who should be focused on learning, growing, and building careers or families.
Fortunately, adolescents and young adults (AYAs) with cancer aren’t alone in their journey. Organizations like Stupid Cancer, founded in 2012 by pediatric brain cancer survivor Matthew Zachary, are there to support young cancer patients throughout their journey of treatment and survivorship by ending isolation and building community.
Events like CancerCon bring the AYA community together to share experiences and celebrate life. It’s a welcome opportunity to be oneself among others with similar challenges, and to rally around one another during the most difficult moments in the process.
It’s not always easy to find the funds to attend this event, however, especially when undergoing treatment. So this year, COTA stepped in to raise money through the CancerCon Scholarship Fund and help sponsor attendees who might not otherwise be able to go.
As part of our company’s outreach efforts, our Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB) Committee, led by Chrissy Antoine and Claire Bai and supported by Millie Kilic, Connor Shimberg, Serwah Afranie, Carolyn Serrano, Courtney Anderson, and Laura Fernandes brainstormed and spearheaded a musical event, “COTA & Friends Present: Sounds of Support for Stupid Cancer”. This benefit ultimately raised more than $14,000 for Stupid Cancer, allowing around half a dozen AYA cancer patients to experience CancerCon at minimal cost to themselves or their families.
The Sounds of Support Concert was a true community collaboration. Not only are Stupid Cancer’s headquarters located just around the corner from COTA’s New York City office in Hudson Square, but the benefit concert was held at legendary music venue S.O.B.’s (Sounds of Brazil), right downstairs in our own building.
The company, duotone audio group, located one floor above us, helped connect us with singer and performer Wé Ani, a finalist on Season 21 of American Idol. GFP Real Estate generously donated funds to bring our event to life. Hudson Square BID and close to a dozen other local organizations stepped up as sponsors to make the night an astounding, heartwarming success.
Some of our favorite moments? Coming together with our COTA colleagues to decorate the venue from scratch. Hanging out with Wé Ani and her team in the green room before the performance, waiting to light up the stage. We heard from Stupid Cancer CEO Alison Silberman, who shared how the funds will be used and thanked us for helping make cancer suck less. Soaking in the electric atmosphere as present and former members of the COTA family and COTA NYC neighbors came together to show up, loud and proud, for young people with cancer.
It was an unforgettable night and an incredible achievement for the COTA DEIB committee, who had never put together an event like this before. Chrissy and Claire’s commitment to dreaming big, being bold, and taking initiative to engage the community was instrumental in making it happen. COTA is incredibly fortunate to have them as leaders of our DEIB committee in addition to all their other valuable contributions to COTA’s mission.
The Sounds of Support event is just one way that COTA is making good on its values as a real-world data company focused on bringing clarity to cancer – and as a community that has had first-hand experiences with cancer in so many ways. We will continue to work with our neighbors, friends, and partners to raise awareness, foster belonging, and lift up those in the midst of their cancer journey in creative, joyful, and impactful ways.
