13thirty Cancer Connect needs your help to sustain and grow the vital peer support programs offered to adolescents and young adults impacted by cancer in the Rochester, NY area. Along with nearly 82,000 others across the United States, Rochester teens and young adults have unique needs and challenges that have long been unmet. 13thirty Cancer Connect is bridging that gap.

All funds raised during this CrowdRise campaign will be used to continue our work in Rochester. When we reach our goal, we will be eligible for an even greater opportunity. 13thirty Cancer Connect has submitted A Community Thrives Grant to win $100,000, $50,000, $25,000, $15,000, or $10,000 which will be used to expand our programs to a second community.

But we need to first meet our CrowdRise goal! Can our teens and young adults with cancer count on you?

BONUS! An additional $25,000 Fan Favorite grant will be given to the campaign that raises the most money on CrowdRise by May 11!

What's the story of 13thirty Cancer Connect? Imagine being a teen or young adult. What’s most important? Your friends, how you look, your emerging independence from your parents? Maybe a first love or a first real job? Hopes and dreams are bright and the future is at your fingertips.

And then, everything changes…. with one word. Cancer.

When the unthinkable happens, 13thirty Cancer Connect is there. We’re there as you come to grips with a new reality and hold your hand when treatment takes its toll. We’re still there when treatment is over and survivorship is more difficult than imagined. Sadly, if life is coming to an end, we say goodbye with a pledge to never forget you because your life mattered to us and to the world.

That’s the grim picture facing 82,000 teens and young adults across the United States each year but 13thirty Cancer Connect paints a different one.

At the 13thirty Center, you feel immediately welcomed by its brightly colored walls and comfy furniture. You may be surprised by a vintage pinball game being played in the corner but you are always struck breathless by the photos on the wall. Photos of teens and young adults who have turned adversity into strength and loss into lessons with the help of friends who understand and an organization dedicated to helping them live their very BEST lives – today!

This is the essence of 13thirty Cancer Connect. At its heart is the enduring legacy of a teen named Melissa whose mom promised to use what she had learned “to make a difference, to make things better.” Eighteen years later, 13thirty Cancer Connect, originally Melissa’s Living Legacy Teen Cancer Foundation, is doing just that.

What do we do? 13thirty Cancer Connect's peer support model helps teens and young adults with cancer build a new community where there is never a bad hair day, scars are badges of honor, and laughter dispels fear. An array of fitness and nutrition programs help 13thirty members regain physical strength. Expressive arts give voice to shared experience and experiential adventures like mountain climbing, canoeing and community advocacy develop self-confidence and hope for a positive future.

What will we do with A Community Thrives Grant? This grant will allow 13thirty Cancer Connect to expand into a second community. Thousands of other teens and young adults like Charlie, and parents like Lynda, need 13thirty in their community. Cancer is tough. It’s lonely. It really sucks, as the kids would say. But with friends who 'get it', others like Charlie will have the chance to live their very best lives - TODAY!

13thirty Cancer Connect Inc

Helping teens and young adults impacted by cancer live their very BEST lives - TODAY!

Fundraising Campaigns

$20K/20 Day Challenge

13thirty Cancer Connect, Inc. - New York

13thirty Cancer Connect: Helping teens & young adults with cancer live their very best lives!