February 17, 2025 • 29 mins
A cancer diagnosis changes everything—families are thrown into a whirlwind of medical decisions, financial strain, and emotional turmoil. But they don’t have to go through it alone. In this episode of Spotlight Houston, host Blanca Quezada sits down with Alec Lloyd, Director of Development for B.I.G. Love Cancer Care. They discuss how this nonprofit is meeting the most urgent physical and financial needs of pediatric oncology and hematology patients.
B.I.G. Love was founded in 2007 by a mother who experienced firsthand the challenges of having a child with cancer. Her daughter, Brooke, was diagnosed at just three years old, and despite her own battle, she had one wish—to help other kids in the hospital. Inspired by Brooke’s incredible generosity, her family created B.I.G. Love Cancer Care, which now serves over 100,000 children and families each year across 10 hospitals in Houston, San Antonio, Austin, and Temple, Texas.
Alec breaks down the many ways B.I.G. Love supports families during and after treatment, including:
· New Diagnosis Baskets – Providing families with essential toiletries, comfort items, and hospital supplies when they first hear the devastating news.
· Weekly Wishlist – Parents and caregivers can request groceries, toys, or personal care items, delivered directly to hospital rooms.
· Catered Meals & Snack Shacks – Making sure families aren’t left hungry while staying with their children in the hospital.
· Financial Assistance & Housing Support – Helping families cover rent, utilities, hotel stays, and other urgent expenses.
Beyond the logistics, Alec sheds light on the emotional toll of childhood cancer—the fear, uncertainty, and stress that weigh on parents, siblings, and caregivers. With B.I.G. Love, families find more than just material support—they find a community that walks with them through every step of their journey, from diagnosis to survivorship and beyond.
If you’ve ever wondered how you can help, this episode will show you the many
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
There's so many things that are going on when you're at the hospital that that
you don't realize is gonna be a need. You need to do laundry. You're having
to pay for parking. All of you like like, the only person who gets
food is the patient. And so when you're a child with cancer,
you're not alone in the hospital where mom or dad or a caregiver or somebody's
there with you. And so providing food for them, making sure that everyone's fed.
(00:22):
And there there's so many things that like you said earlier, like, when you get
the diagnosis of cancer, you're you're just going to, okay, treatment. How do we take
care of this? But there's so many things along that journey that you don't
even begin to think about, and that's where Big Love steps in. Our goal is
to step in and help make that as easy as possible, to help make life
feel as normal as possible, and do whatever we can to help those families during
(00:43):
this time.
Thank you for joining us for another episode of Spotlight Houston, where we bring
you the best people, places, and events in Greater Houston. A childhood cancer
diagnosis is life changing, not just for the child, but for the entire
family. From overwhelming medical treatments to financial stress and
(01:04):
emotional struggles, families often don't know where to turn for help. That's
where Big Love Cancer Care comes in. In today's episode, our host,
Blanca Quesada, sits down with Alec Lloyd, director of development for Big
Love Cancer Care. They talk about how this nonprofit provides life changing
support for pediatric oncology and hematology patients and their
families. Big Love ensures families have access to basic necessities,
(01:26):
groceries, housing assistance, and emotional support while navigating the
challenges of childhood cancer. Their mission is to make life just a little
bit easier for families in crisis. Big Love has impacted over a hundred
thousand families across 10 hospitals in Houston, San Antonio,
Austin, and Temple, Texas. And in this episode, you'll hear how you can
help. This is episode one twenty five with an original air date of
(01:49):
Monday, 02/17/2025. Spotlight Houston
is brought to you by Storyzone Media. And now here's your host,
Blanca Quesada. When we hear the word
cancer, we usually think of it as
an adult health issue. But, unfortunately,
there are hundreds of kids that are also
(02:12):
being diagnosed every day with different types
of cancer problems. And really, no parent
is prepared to receive this type of news
from their doctor. So, of course, the first thing
a parent thinks is, well, what needs to be done?
How can we get rid of it? What is it that we need to do?
(02:35):
And then they don't stop about it stop and think about
anything else until much later when
they realize how serious their situation might be. I can't
even imagine the emotional impact
that parents feel when they hear
your child has cancer. So today, I want parents
(02:57):
to know that they aren't alone, that they
don't have to do this by themselves. And so
I have asked Alec Lloyd, director of
development for Big Love Cancer Care South Texas,
to discuss with us what parents
need to know and, basically, how you
(03:20):
help parents and and other family
members through whatever needs they may have.
So, Alec, thank you for joining me today. Of course. Thank you so
much for having me. Yes. And like I said, it's really
difficult to even imagine the enormous
emotional situations Mhmm. And pain that a
(03:43):
parent feels when they receive that diagnosis.
And so for just having to understand
everything that the doctor is saying
and what all happens is or is going to
happen in their childcare or at home.
How what are they gonna do next? It's it's a very
(04:06):
confusing situation. Tell us the why
and how, Big Love
Cancer Center Care, how the organization
was established, and how many cities
does the organization serve? Absolutely. Yeah.
So as you said, I mean, cancer affects everybody, not just the adults. And
(04:29):
Right. Kids are dealing with it. And like you said, parents' lives get turned upside
down. Everyone's life gets turned upside down when they get that diagnosis. So back
in 02/2007, Big Wolf Cancer Care was founded. Our executive director,
her daughter was diagnosed with cancer. And her daughter's name is Brooke. And so
she was diagnosed with cancer back in 02/2007. And and through that
process, Brooke had the biggest heart to help everybody who was
(04:51):
on the floor. So either stories of Brooke when kid kids
in the on the unit were were needing help, and and her main
goal Brooke's main goal was to help those families and help those kids rather than
helping herself. And so that is how Big Love was born, was through our executive
director's daughter, Brooke. And and so big stands for Brooke's incredible gift,
b I g. And and so so that's where we began, back in
(05:13):
02/2007, and here we are today. We started off offering one
program in one hospital back in 02/2007, and now we're offering
over 12 programs at 10 hospitals across Texas. So we're in four
cities. So we serve here in Houston, and we serve at five hospitals here in
Houston. We serve at three hospitals in San Antonio, One
hospital in Austin, and one hospital in Temple, Texas.
(05:35):
Wow. So how old was Brooke when she was diagnosed?
Brooke was, I believe, three years old.
Okay. Was she here in Houston? Yes. They were at Texas
Children's. That's sort of how our programs came to be is
because Jessica, our executive director, Brooke's mom, realized
what it is that she needed when she was in the hospital as a mom,
(05:58):
what Brooke needed when she was in the hospital as a patient, and that's how
all of our programs have been born. It was, the needs of wanting to make
life feel a little bit normal for those kids, providing toys, wanting
needing some food because there's not a lot of great food options when you're
sitting at the hospital. Right. And so so that's how all of our programs were
born. She born. She really remembers her whole experience
(06:21):
with them, and and that's how we have all 12 of our service based programs
that we're offering now. Yeah. Unfortunately, I lost my
sister a few years ago. Mhmm. She had leukemia.
But on the floor that she was on, there was a
teen girl and a little boy, about
seven. And I don't know what type of cancer they had,
(06:43):
but I made friends with the the moms. And
the moms were asking me about, where do I get this?
What do I? They had laundry to do because they've been there for so
long. Mhmm. And just just basic things
that they needed. And I had no clue because I was
also kind of in shock with my sister and trying to
(07:06):
figure what I needed to do for her. So I
tried to help them as much as I could. And
so, unfortunately, these two children lost
their battle with the cancers they had. And it was
very difficult to see the the families go through
that. And and so when I heard about you, it's
(07:27):
like, oh, that's wonderful because
parents don't have to be alone. And there's an
organization that can help them understand
the most basic and, of course, urgent
physical and emotional and even financial needs
of, pediatric oncology and hematology.
(07:51):
And not just the parents, but it's a it's the whole
family that needs to get involved. Mhmm.
Absolutely. Yeah. And like you mentioned, I mean, there's so many things that are going
on when you're at the hospital that that you don't realize is gonna be a
need. You need to do laundry. You're having to pay for parking.
All of you like like, the only person who gets food is the patient. And
(08:13):
so when you're a child with cancer, you're not alone in the
hospital. Your mom or dad or a caregiver or somebody's there with you. And so
providing food for them, making sure that everyone's fed. And there there's so
many things that like you said earlier, like, when you get the diagnosis of cancer,
you're you're just going to, okay, treatment. How do we take care of this? But
there's so many things along that journey that you don't even begin to think
(08:35):
about, and that's where Big Love steps in. Our goal is to step in and
help make that as easy as possible, to help make life feel as normal as
possible, and do whatever we can to help those families during this time. Yeah.
Most parents are at the snack machines or if they
can, they'll run down to the cafeteria and get something,
and they don't wanna miss a second with their child.
(08:56):
Exactly. And then if you go down to the cafeteria, you're spending $17
for a grilled cheese Right. Right. A kitchen is Right. Minimal nutritional
value Right. And is expensive. And so we wanna help
provide nutritious meals that are free Yes. Yes. Snacks that that are
Yes. That kids want and parents want. Yeah. What
about living expenses? Because Mhmm. A lot of
(09:19):
these people that are here in Houston come from other
places, from other countries, or from other cities across
the nation. Mhmm. And then, like you said, everything is expensive.
So how how are they going to figure out that financial
need? Absolutely. You're right. Everything is very expensive, and
there's tons of needs. And the one of those is housing. Like
(09:42):
you mentioned, we living in Houston, we're in one of the biggest medical centers in
the world, and people travel far and wide to come to our
facilities because we have experts in the matter here. Let's say,
and doctors Exactly. And they're fantastic. And so we're glad they're coming
here to get treatment. But you're right. People are traveling, and they don't have a
place to stay. And you've got people who are staying on the couch
(10:03):
in the room. We had a mom who was staying in her car because she
couldn't afford to stay anywhere else. And so we like to step in and do
whatever we can. And so a lot of times, we help with hotels. We'll put
people up in hotels. We also work with other nonprofits and help point them in
the direction of if there's a nonprofit that can suit them better to find that
specific need, we help them point them in that direction. But we'll also we put
(10:24):
up many of families in hotels. And then we also help out with we help
cover a lot of times whenever you're going to treatment. Things get really expensive
really quick. And so Very quick. Bills, and then you
can't afford your mortgage. You can't afford your rent. You can't afford your utilities.
You can't afford a car payment. And we like to step in and help however
we can in those situations as well. We do our best to say yes to
(10:46):
everything, which is fun, but also may means it's a challenge. We don't like to
say no. And so because of that, we are working hard day in and day
out to make sure that we have the support of people who can help us
say yes to these things and then also partners to organizations who can help
us by providing housing or financial support or things
like that as well. Yeah. And, also, a lot of these parents or
(11:08):
families, they may be like, again, they come from other
cities, other countries. They really don't know the city
when they come in. It's like, well, where do we go? How do we get
there? How Oh, absolutely. And and driving in the medical center, I've grown up in
Houston my whole life, and I've Yes. Been on the medical center so many times.
And as a native Houstonian driver, they're stressing me out. I
(11:30):
can't imagine coming in and going, where do I go? How do I get anywhere
in this city? It's like the medical center is a city on its own. Oh
my gosh. It's insane. Absolutely. I Great. I agree.
Well, you do provide a great deal of service
to people, but how do people know about you? How do they find out about
you? That's a great question. So we make sure we work really
(11:52):
closely, with all of the nurses,
the, social workers, the child
life specialists, everybody who is on the pediatric oncology and
hematology floors. We work really closely with them so they know about
the services that we provide. And then whenever a patient comes
to them or is,
(12:15):
diagnosed and then admitted, they get all of our information.
They say, hey. Here here's BigLove. Here's who they are, and here's the services that
they can provide. And so a lot of times, the social workers are like, oh,
like, they need groceries delivered. BigLove is really good at helping
people get their groceries off, point them to BigLove, or we'll make sure that they
contact us. And so that's really how they how we get our name out
(12:36):
within the hospitals. And it's something else that's really cool. Whenever it
comes to our services that we provide, there is no
application process or anything like that to become you know,
you don't have to have a certain amount of income or live in a certain
area or have been there for so many days, if you are
(12:56):
at any of those hospitals that we serve, any of the 10 hospitals that we
serve and have a pediatric oncology or hematology diagnosis,
then we will automatically serve you. We're happy to serve and happy to help however
we can. So there's no, oh, I've gotta go through this process and make sure
that I'm qualified for it. If you're at the hospitals that we serve at,
you re you can receive our services. And our social workers know that, and
(13:18):
the child specialists know that. And so so they know how we
can help those those patients and those children. Yeah.
So even if the the parent isn't even thinking about it,
the social service or the nurses should mention it to them. Yeah. They know
what's going on. And and we also offer offer this program. One of our
programs from our many services that we offer, it's a new diagnosis basket.
(13:40):
And so whenever a child is diagnosed, with
cancer, a lot of times they're going to a hospital not thinking that's gonna be
the case. That's they've got flu like symptoms or something like that. Something's off.
They go in and then they get this diagnosis, and then we like to provide
a new diagnosis basket, which is a basket or we're trying to move into, like,
rolling suitcases because these kids are in and out of the hospital a lot. And
(14:01):
we wanna provide something sturdy that can help them get in and out of the
hospital. And we fill it with goodies, with toiletries, with
hospital essentials just to make their stay at the hospital, as
bearable as possible and as nice as possible. And
then as we present as we give them that, we also give them a pamphlet
with all of our information that's usually know sort of what our services are, how
(14:21):
we can help them. But, yes, we really rely heavily on our teams at the
hospital who know who we are to help get the word out about our
services to the children and their families. It also sounds like your
volunteers provide service, their
support, basically, for these parents, kind of hold their hand to
go through whatever they need to go through. Oh, yeah. Absolutely. It's a
(14:43):
crazy thing. I've been on the cancer unit multiple times.
And to just get to go, we go room to room. I went we were
dropping off snacks. We were dropping off toys, and you see how excited these
kids are, and their parents are to see us because they know who we are
because we're there every week. And they're like, oh, it's Big Love. Big Love's here,
and and they're giving they're giving us some snacks. They're giving us some some toys,
(15:03):
and they're excited to come out and to sort of choose a toy or a
snack. And then you've got parents who are, of course, struggling for this process,
and they're excited to see us because they know our directors of programs because they
see them every week. Like, oh, it's a it's a good face to see and
just sort of they keep us updated on what's going on and how we can
keep helping them and just just have a friendly face. And so it is
(15:24):
it's it's a hard it's a hard process, but it's a service that we offer.
Even outside of our programs that we offer, just our presence and being able
to talk with these families and get to see with them and and walk through
this journey with them from diagnosis to survivorship
and beyond, we're we're always spending time with them and and getting
to know them and really trying to build those relationships with them. But just to
(15:44):
encourage them and support them through this journey. Yeah. And I'm sure that the parents
are very appreciative of your support and
knowing that somebody is there holding their hand too.
Absolutely. Is that isn't a a medical
person there, a nurse or a doctor Yeah. That
it's a friend, basically. Yeah. And and like you mentioned
(16:06):
earlier, I mean, it's not just I mean, obviously, the child who has a
diagnosis is going through it, and they're going through it at a very intense
level. But it's the parents, the siblings, the grandparents,
the cousins, everybody who's a part of that family or or the close
friends, they're going through it too. And we like to be a support for them
as well. And we offer services for those people as well. Right.
(16:28):
So how long do you provide your support?
Because a lot of these kids are in the hospital for months,
sometimes even years. Absolutely. So how do you
provide or for how long do you provide the support?
Forever. We like I said, we're from diagnosis through
survivorship. So through through whatever their
(16:51):
journey looks like as if they're if they've got a diagnosis,
we're supporting them, and then beyond. And so, like, we've got families who have
made it through their through their diagnosis or into survivorship, and we get to
celebrate with them. And they're part of our we do events with them, and we
and we get to celebrate them. And then we also have families who who sadly
lose their child, and and we still support them as well through through end of
(17:12):
life care, through funeral expenses. And then we'd like to support them past
that as well because that journey, you're still you're still battling that
journey and and that that that trial even beyond.
Yeah. So what age do you provide
help for the children? Is it just little kids up to
maybe 10 years old? No. Great question. Great question. We provide
(17:36):
from birth to age 25. Oh, okay. And so
and that's something that is often the the older kids are
often not forgotten about, but that's a harder whenever you think about it, you're
thinking, oh, you're thinking young kids, birth through 10 years old.
That you think through those toys, and so we always get a lot of great
toys Right. Drives, donations through that. But we're also
(17:57):
providing up to age 25. So we're dealing with teenagers, young adults,
and supporting them as well is is a big thing. It's sort of I was
talking with someone yesterday. It's sort of the forgotten about age group
is that, like They're kind of invisible. Teen to 25. It's you're just
like, oh, yeah. Like, especially the 18 to 25 range. Like, there's
nothing really for you right here. Right. And we like to make sure that those
(18:20):
kids are loved as well, and those kids have everything that they need. And so
we do send you, like, adolescent young adult bags that we provide
for those families and those kids as well to help help them out. And,
of course, when it comes to the holidays, we do a a holiday shop of
where families can come in and shop for Christmas for their kids, and we
like to make sure that we have toys from the teenagers seriously, like
(18:43):
headphones, Bluetooth speakers Electronics. Clothing equipment,
electronics. Yeah. Makeup. And it's always one of the sections. Like, gosh. I
don't even someone was asking me yesterday. Well, what what do you need for these
kids? I was like, Everything. No. Like, everything. Like, I'm trying to
like, I'm not a teenager anymore. It's like, what do I what do I want
at that age? Right. Right. That that we can provide their
(19:04):
for their needs as well. Yeah. Yeah. And other than the
Christmas event, what other type of events do you have?
Another great question. We do events all year round. In fact, we have our
biggest fundraising event coming up on April 5 this year, and that is our once
upon a dream gala. And so this is our biggest fundraiser. You can come out,
support, buy a ticket, buy a table. We're always looking for auction items. So
(19:26):
that's sort of just your usual come, and we
have dinner, a cocktail a dancing, an auction, tell
people sort of the story of who Pickle Up is. But we do all sorts
of things. We have a clay shoot. We have a disc golf tournament.
We have a regular golf tournament. We have a pickleball tournament.
We do a a fun run. We we do all sorts of events
(19:47):
as fundraisers throughout the year, and then we have events like our holiday
shop for our families, and then we'll do, like, photoshoots
for our ambassadors and get togethers for our big love family
who are our families who have gone through survivorship, gone through treatment,
and are still just part of our organization. We'll do events with them.
And then we just like to cover events this events happen throughout Texas, the
(20:11):
cities in Texas. Right? Yes, ma'am. Yep. All throughout Texas. So and and and
Austin, in San Antonio, in Killeen,
in Houston, the Houston Greater Houston area, so Pearland,
Conroe, all all around the area. And so we're very So is the
gala gonna be here in Houston? Yes, ma'am. The gala is here in Houston in
The Heights, and we are looking forward to a fun night.
(20:33):
Yeah. My understanding is that that people can go in all
dressed up or they can dress up in costumes. Yep. Yeah. They can get dressed
up in costume. Fair yep. It's very tough even. So I know that we'll have
some kiddos there who are dressed up in in their best prince charming
and fairy tale costumes, and we're excited to see that. They're pretty
princess dresses. Absolutely. Yeah. That's
(20:55):
great. That's great. So other than
going to a gala, we can help in many ways. And
and sometimes we can't make any of your events other events.
So is there a way that we can help?
Yes. Tons of ways that we can help. First of all, we always need
volunteers. So if someone's interested in volunteering, you can go to our
(21:18):
website, biglovecancercare.org, and you can click on the
get involved button, and that will take you to our volunteer page. We always need
help in all of our cities, but, really, especially here in Houston
too, getting people to help us out in the medical center, people who are comfortable
driving down there and and dealing with that traffic. But Yeah. It's scary
over there. Yeah. It is scary. It is scary. But we always need help there.
(21:40):
We so we can always use volunteers a lot in our ways and volunteers for
our events as well. Also, we're we always do drives of
all sorts of types. So toy drives, toiletry drives, gift card
drives, Anything like that always helps too. I was
talking with some people yesterday about I would love to show people our
storage, which is full of toys. And people would be like, oh my gosh. You
(22:00):
have so many toys. I said, yes. We have so many toys. If you look
at it right now, but it we rotate through those toys so fast. Because every
time we go to the hospital, we're pushing around a car of toys with us
and passing those out as well. Yeah. And you need people to help you organize
that. Exactly. Oh, yeah. That's always big. We actually just had a big old organizing
party the other day. I walked out. I was like, wow. This looks great. Yeah.
(22:21):
And then also helping out by giving. Donations is is what
funds our whole organization. Yeah. And we can't do it without people helping us in
that way. And there's tons of ways to give, giving monthly. You can
give to be a sponsor in an event. And then organizations too, if you're
if you they do matching giving. Like, I know a lot of companies will
do, oh, we'll match your gifts for your nonprofit. See if your company does that,
(22:43):
and we'll gladly be the recipient of that match as well. And you have
a a shop as well where you can get t shirts and other items?
Yeah. You can buy some of our merch and some big love t shirts. Gosh.
We have all sorts of things in there. And so we'd love to tell you
some of that as well, and that's helped out all these kids too. So how
many families and patients do you help throughout the
year? Yeah. Every year, we serve over a hundred thousand
(23:07):
kids all across the state of Texas. Yeah. It it's pretty
pretty astonishing the number of kids that are dealing with cancer.
And that's a huge number, and we're really proud of that. But when you also
take a step back and think, wow. That's just the tip of the iceberg because
we're only at 10 hospitals across Texas. Yeah. And you just think about how
many hospitals there are across the country who are doing that, across the world
(23:29):
who are doing that. Yeah. And we're we're proud of that hundred thousand, and we're
happy to to share those kids every year, but we know that there's there's still
a lot of work to be done. Yeah. And there's more and more kids
week or every month that that are coming in with into the
hospitals with that same diagnosis, some type of cancer.
Absolutely. Yeah. You definitely, need
(23:51):
everybody's help if possible. This is You know?
All the all the help all the help helps. Yeah. If you can't be there
personally, then go into the shop or just donate,
you know, what you can Absolutely. Weekly.
Mhmm. So, Alec, where can we find all the
information on Big Love Cancer Care?
(24:15):
Yeah. Our website is gonna be your main hub and main source of
information. So
www.biglovecancercare.org, and
that is gonna be the main spot where you can find everything. But you can
also follow us on social media. We have a Facebook, it's an
Instagram x, all of those things, and
it's at big love cancer care for most of those. If you go to our
(24:38):
website and you click we have all the icons at the bottom. Click on it.
It'll take you right to that page as well. Yeah. Yes. What about a phone
number? Oh, that is a great question. It is
(888)
522-7339, and it'll send you
to whoever the right person is to answer your phone call. Yeah. And one more
question. Where can we donate toys or
(25:00):
other items like makeup for girls and Absolutely. Other
things for for kids? Where can we make our donations?
That's a great question. If you would just email,
one of our team members. You can email me,
alec@biglovecancercare.org. So that's
alec@biglovecancercare.org. And you say, hey. I've got a
donation, and we'll find a time or a place to meet up. We're all we
(25:23):
don't have a central hub office, or we give you a way to drop it
off at our storage unit. We'll find a time and the best way to connect
and and pick up that donation. Yeah. And are you available
for these families, these parents, and family
members twenty four seven? Great question. So
not twenty four seven, but pretty close to it. We we have work office
(25:46):
hours, sort of eight eight to five. But something that we do really pride
ourselves in is that we're at the hospital fifty two weeks a year. We are
not just there during the holiday season at the end of the year,
but we are there every week. And so I know our director programs here in
Houston. I'm pretty sure she's at the hospital at least three or four days a
week. I don't know when she gets any of her admin work done, but she
(26:06):
is there, and she's always reaching out. And so we are accessible
through their social workers as well. And so they go through their social workers, and
that's how they communicate with us. So I know that their social workers are whatever
their social workers are available to them, then their social workers will know, and they'll
reach out to us and get us connected with them. So if it's super late
at night, it'll be first thing in the morning, but our team is on top
(26:27):
of things. I know that I see our team taking care of things. Once that
8AM hits, they're they're there. They're answering requests, and they're getting
things taken care of. Yeah. And I'm sure they get to know the families
really well, so they're gonna wanna be there as much as
possible. Absolutely. Yeah. We've we've built some really cool relationships with
these families over the years, and it's fun to get to see them and and
(26:48):
watch them grow up and and watch them grow through treatment and and be there
alongside them through this journey. And just hold the the the
parents' hands through all this. And
and like I said, we can't or I can't imagine
the pain. But when you're there holding their
hand, you can see it, you can feel it,
(27:11):
and but you're there supporting them. I mean, all I can think
of is trying to put myself in their shoes. Absolutely.
Wanting somebody there to guide me to hold my hand.
Absolutely. I I I can't imagine going through what these families go through.
And I see it all the time and just wanting to be there and to
support those families because that's what I would want in those situations as
(27:33):
well. Yeah. Because sometimes there aren't enough social workers
or enough nurses to be there with you throughout
the day, and you might need something. And who can you call?
Yeah. They're busy. They got a busy they got a busy Yeah. The nurses have
their hands their have their hands on there, and they do great work. And we're
really grateful to have them on our team to help Definitely. To help
(27:55):
these families. Definitely. Thank goodness. So give
us your website address one more time.
Biglovecancercare.org. Okay.
And the phone number? It is (888)
522-7339. And then if you
have any questions or anything else that you wanna email, you
(28:17):
can email admin, a d m I n, at
big love cancer care dot org as well. Mhmm. Well,
Alec, thank you so much for for joining me and for
informing us about how Big Love,
cancer care organization helps parents
with their children's journey of
(28:39):
with cancer Mhmm. Which is really difficult.
Absolutely. Well, thank you so much for having me. I really do appreciate it. It's
always a joy to get to to talk about big love and and what we're
up to and and how we're helping ease that childhood cancer journey all across the
state of Texas. And putting my smiles on these kids' faces
too. Absolutely. It brings a smile to our faces too, getting to see that
(29:00):
smile. Yeah. And, of course, I'd like to thank you all
as well for joining me for this edition of Spotlight
Houston. Please send me your comments or any
story ideas you may have too. Thank you.
There's so many things that are going on when you're at the hospital that that
you don't realize is gonna be a need. You need to do laundry. You're having
to pay for parking. All of you like like, the only person who gets
food is the patient. And so when you're a child with cancer,
you're not alone in the hospital where mom or dad or a caregiver or somebody's
there with you. And so providing food for them, making sure that everyone's fed.
(00:22):
And there there's so many things that like you said earlier, like, when you get
the diagnosis of cancer, you're you're just going to, okay, treatment. How do we take
care of this? But there's so many things along that journey that you don't
even begin to think about, and that's where Big Love steps in. Our goal is
to step in and help make that as easy as possible, to help make life
feel as normal as possible, and do whatever we can to help those families during
(00:43):
this time.
Thank you for joining us for another episode of Spotlight Houston, where we bring
you the best people, places, and events in Greater Houston. A childhood cancer
diagnosis is life changing, not just for the child, but for the entire
family. From overwhelming medical treatments to financial stress and
(01:04):
emotional struggles, families often don't know where to turn for help. That's
where Big Love Cancer Care comes in. In today's episode, our host,
Blanca Quesada, sits down with Alec Lloyd, director of development for Big
Love Cancer Care. They talk about how this nonprofit provides life changing
support for pediatric oncology and hematology patients and their
families. Big Love ensures families have access to basic necessities,
(01:26):
groceries, housing assistance, and emotional support while navigating the
challenges of childhood cancer. Their mission is to make life just a little
bit easier for families in crisis. Big Love has impacted over a hundred
thousand families across 10 hospitals in Houston, San Antonio,
Austin, and Temple, Texas. And in this episode, you'll hear how you can
help. This is episode one twenty five with an original air date of
(01:49):
Monday, 02/17/2025. Spotlight Houston
is brought to you by Storyzone Media. And now here's your host,
Blanca Quesada. When we hear the word
cancer, we usually think of it as
an adult health issue. But, unfortunately,
there are hundreds of kids that are also
(02:12):
being diagnosed every day with different types
of cancer problems. And really, no parent
is prepared to receive this type of news
from their doctor. So, of course, the first thing
a parent thinks is, well, what needs to be done?
How can we get rid of it? What is it that we need to do?
(02:35):
And then they don't stop about it stop and think about
anything else until much later when
they realize how serious their situation might be. I can't
even imagine the emotional impact
that parents feel when they hear
your child has cancer. So today, I want parents
(02:57):
to know that they aren't alone, that they
don't have to do this by themselves. And so
I have asked Alec Lloyd, director of
development for Big Love Cancer Care South Texas,
to discuss with us what parents
need to know and, basically, how you
(03:20):
help parents and and other family
members through whatever needs they may have.
So, Alec, thank you for joining me today. Of course. Thank you so
much for having me. Yes. And like I said, it's really
difficult to even imagine the enormous
emotional situations Mhmm. And pain that a
(03:43):
parent feels when they receive that diagnosis.
And so for just having to understand
everything that the doctor is saying
and what all happens is or is going to
happen in their childcare or at home.
How what are they gonna do next? It's it's a very
(04:06):
confusing situation. Tell us the why
and how, Big Love
Cancer Center Care, how the organization
was established, and how many cities
does the organization serve? Absolutely. Yeah.
So as you said, I mean, cancer affects everybody, not just the adults. And
(04:29):
Right. Kids are dealing with it. And like you said, parents' lives get turned upside
down. Everyone's life gets turned upside down when they get that diagnosis. So back
in 02/2007, Big Wolf Cancer Care was founded. Our executive director,
her daughter was diagnosed with cancer. And her daughter's name is Brooke. And so
she was diagnosed with cancer back in 02/2007. And and through that
process, Brooke had the biggest heart to help everybody who was
(04:51):
on the floor. So either stories of Brooke when kid kids
in the on the unit were were needing help, and and her main
goal Brooke's main goal was to help those families and help those kids rather than
helping herself. And so that is how Big Love was born, was through our executive
director's daughter, Brooke. And and so big stands for Brooke's incredible gift,
b I g. And and so so that's where we began, back in
(05:13):
02/2007, and here we are today. We started off offering one
program in one hospital back in 02/2007, and now we're offering
over 12 programs at 10 hospitals across Texas. So we're in four
cities. So we serve here in Houston, and we serve at five hospitals here in
Houston. We serve at three hospitals in San Antonio, One
hospital in Austin, and one hospital in Temple, Texas.
(05:35):
Wow. So how old was Brooke when she was diagnosed?
Brooke was, I believe, three years old.
Okay. Was she here in Houston? Yes. They were at Texas
Children's. That's sort of how our programs came to be is
because Jessica, our executive director, Brooke's mom, realized
what it is that she needed when she was in the hospital as a mom,
(05:58):
what Brooke needed when she was in the hospital as a patient, and that's how
all of our programs have been born. It was, the needs of wanting to make
life feel a little bit normal for those kids, providing toys, wanting
needing some food because there's not a lot of great food options when you're
sitting at the hospital. Right. And so so that's how all of our programs were
born. She born. She really remembers her whole experience
(06:21):
with them, and and that's how we have all 12 of our service based programs
that we're offering now. Yeah. Unfortunately, I lost my
sister a few years ago. Mhmm. She had leukemia.
But on the floor that she was on, there was a
teen girl and a little boy, about
seven. And I don't know what type of cancer they had,
(06:43):
but I made friends with the the moms. And
the moms were asking me about, where do I get this?
What do I? They had laundry to do because they've been there for so
long. Mhmm. And just just basic things
that they needed. And I had no clue because I was
also kind of in shock with my sister and trying to
(07:06):
figure what I needed to do for her. So I
tried to help them as much as I could. And
so, unfortunately, these two children lost
their battle with the cancers they had. And it was
very difficult to see the the families go through
that. And and so when I heard about you, it's
(07:27):
like, oh, that's wonderful because
parents don't have to be alone. And there's an
organization that can help them understand
the most basic and, of course, urgent
physical and emotional and even financial needs
of, pediatric oncology and hematology.
(07:51):
And not just the parents, but it's a it's the whole
family that needs to get involved. Mhmm.
Absolutely. Yeah. And like you mentioned, I mean, there's so many things that are going
on when you're at the hospital that that you don't realize is gonna be a
need. You need to do laundry. You're having to pay for parking.
All of you like like, the only person who gets food is the patient. And
(08:13):
so when you're a child with cancer, you're not alone in the
hospital. Your mom or dad or a caregiver or somebody's there with you. And so
providing food for them, making sure that everyone's fed. And there there's so
many things that like you said earlier, like, when you get the diagnosis of cancer,
you're you're just going to, okay, treatment. How do we take care of this? But
there's so many things along that journey that you don't even begin to think
(08:35):
about, and that's where Big Love steps in. Our goal is to step in and
help make that as easy as possible, to help make life feel as normal as
possible, and do whatever we can to help those families during this time. Yeah.
Most parents are at the snack machines or if they
can, they'll run down to the cafeteria and get something,
and they don't wanna miss a second with their child.
(08:56):
Exactly. And then if you go down to the cafeteria, you're spending $17
for a grilled cheese Right. Right. A kitchen is Right. Minimal nutritional
value Right. And is expensive. And so we wanna help
provide nutritious meals that are free Yes. Yes. Snacks that that are
Yes. That kids want and parents want. Yeah. What
about living expenses? Because Mhmm. A lot of
(09:19):
these people that are here in Houston come from other
places, from other countries, or from other cities across
the nation. Mhmm. And then, like you said, everything is expensive.
So how how are they going to figure out that financial
need? Absolutely. You're right. Everything is very expensive, and
there's tons of needs. And the one of those is housing. Like
(09:42):
you mentioned, we living in Houston, we're in one of the biggest medical centers in
the world, and people travel far and wide to come to our
facilities because we have experts in the matter here. Let's say,
and doctors Exactly. And they're fantastic. And so we're glad they're coming
here to get treatment. But you're right. People are traveling, and they don't have a
place to stay. And you've got people who are staying on the couch
(10:03):
in the room. We had a mom who was staying in her car because she
couldn't afford to stay anywhere else. And so we like to step in and do
whatever we can. And so a lot of times, we help with hotels. We'll put
people up in hotels. We also work with other nonprofits and help point them in
the direction of if there's a nonprofit that can suit them better to find that
specific need, we help them point them in that direction. But we'll also we put
(10:24):
up many of families in hotels. And then we also help out with we help
cover a lot of times whenever you're going to treatment. Things get really expensive
really quick. And so Very quick. Bills, and then you
can't afford your mortgage. You can't afford your rent. You can't afford your utilities.
You can't afford a car payment. And we like to step in and help however
we can in those situations as well. We do our best to say yes to
(10:46):
everything, which is fun, but also may means it's a challenge. We don't like to
say no. And so because of that, we are working hard day in and day
out to make sure that we have the support of people who can help us
say yes to these things and then also partners to organizations who can help
us by providing housing or financial support or things
like that as well. Yeah. And, also, a lot of these parents or
(11:08):
families, they may be like, again, they come from other
cities, other countries. They really don't know the city
when they come in. It's like, well, where do we go? How do we get
there? How Oh, absolutely. And and driving in the medical center, I've grown up in
Houston my whole life, and I've Yes. Been on the medical center so many times.
And as a native Houstonian driver, they're stressing me out. I
(11:30):
can't imagine coming in and going, where do I go? How do I get anywhere
in this city? It's like the medical center is a city on its own. Oh
my gosh. It's insane. Absolutely. I Great. I agree.
Well, you do provide a great deal of service
to people, but how do people know about you? How do they find out about
you? That's a great question. So we make sure we work really
(11:52):
closely, with all of the nurses,
the, social workers, the child
life specialists, everybody who is on the pediatric oncology and
hematology floors. We work really closely with them so they know about
the services that we provide. And then whenever a patient comes
to them or is,
(12:15):
diagnosed and then admitted, they get all of our information.
They say, hey. Here here's BigLove. Here's who they are, and here's the services that
they can provide. And so a lot of times, the social workers are like, oh,
like, they need groceries delivered. BigLove is really good at helping
people get their groceries off, point them to BigLove, or we'll make sure that they
contact us. And so that's really how they how we get our name out
(12:36):
within the hospitals. And it's something else that's really cool. Whenever it
comes to our services that we provide, there is no
application process or anything like that to become you know,
you don't have to have a certain amount of income or live in a certain
area or have been there for so many days, if you are
(12:56):
at any of those hospitals that we serve, any of the 10 hospitals that we
serve and have a pediatric oncology or hematology diagnosis,
then we will automatically serve you. We're happy to serve and happy to help however
we can. So there's no, oh, I've gotta go through this process and make sure
that I'm qualified for it. If you're at the hospitals that we serve at,
you re you can receive our services. And our social workers know that, and
(13:18):
the child specialists know that. And so so they know how we
can help those those patients and those children. Yeah.
So even if the the parent isn't even thinking about it,
the social service or the nurses should mention it to them. Yeah. They know
what's going on. And and we also offer offer this program. One of our
programs from our many services that we offer, it's a new diagnosis basket.
(13:40):
And so whenever a child is diagnosed, with
cancer, a lot of times they're going to a hospital not thinking that's gonna be
the case. That's they've got flu like symptoms or something like that. Something's off.
They go in and then they get this diagnosis, and then we like to provide
a new diagnosis basket, which is a basket or we're trying to move into, like,
rolling suitcases because these kids are in and out of the hospital a lot. And
(14:01):
we wanna provide something sturdy that can help them get in and out of the
hospital. And we fill it with goodies, with toiletries, with
hospital essentials just to make their stay at the hospital, as
bearable as possible and as nice as possible. And
then as we present as we give them that, we also give them a pamphlet
with all of our information that's usually know sort of what our services are, how
(14:21):
we can help them. But, yes, we really rely heavily on our teams at the
hospital who know who we are to help get the word out about our
services to the children and their families. It also sounds like your
volunteers provide service, their
support, basically, for these parents, kind of hold their hand to
go through whatever they need to go through. Oh, yeah. Absolutely. It's a
(14:43):
crazy thing. I've been on the cancer unit multiple times.
And to just get to go, we go room to room. I went we were
dropping off snacks. We were dropping off toys, and you see how excited these
kids are, and their parents are to see us because they know who we are
because we're there every week. And they're like, oh, it's Big Love. Big Love's here,
and and they're giving they're giving us some snacks. They're giving us some some toys,
(15:03):
and they're excited to come out and to sort of choose a toy or a
snack. And then you've got parents who are, of course, struggling for this process,
and they're excited to see us because they know our directors of programs because they
see them every week. Like, oh, it's a it's a good face to see and
just sort of they keep us updated on what's going on and how we can
keep helping them and just just have a friendly face. And so it is
(15:24):
it's it's a hard it's a hard process, but it's a service that we offer.
Even outside of our programs that we offer, just our presence and being able
to talk with these families and get to see with them and and walk through
this journey with them from diagnosis to survivorship
and beyond, we're we're always spending time with them and and getting
to know them and really trying to build those relationships with them. But just to
(15:44):
encourage them and support them through this journey. Yeah. And I'm sure that the parents
are very appreciative of your support and
knowing that somebody is there holding their hand too.
Absolutely. Is that isn't a a medical
person there, a nurse or a doctor Yeah. That
it's a friend, basically. Yeah. And and like you mentioned
(16:06):
earlier, I mean, it's not just I mean, obviously, the child who has a
diagnosis is going through it, and they're going through it at a very intense
level. But it's the parents, the siblings, the grandparents,
the cousins, everybody who's a part of that family or or the close
friends, they're going through it too. And we like to be a support for them
as well. And we offer services for those people as well. Right.
(16:28):
So how long do you provide your support?
Because a lot of these kids are in the hospital for months,
sometimes even years. Absolutely. So how do you
provide or for how long do you provide the support?
Forever. We like I said, we're from diagnosis through
survivorship. So through through whatever their
(16:51):
journey looks like as if they're if they've got a diagnosis,
we're supporting them, and then beyond. And so, like, we've got families who have
made it through their through their diagnosis or into survivorship, and we get to
celebrate with them. And they're part of our we do events with them, and we
and we get to celebrate them. And then we also have families who who sadly
lose their child, and and we still support them as well through through end of
(17:12):
life care, through funeral expenses. And then we'd like to support them past
that as well because that journey, you're still you're still battling that
journey and and that that that trial even beyond.
Yeah. So what age do you provide
help for the children? Is it just little kids up to
maybe 10 years old? No. Great question. Great question. We provide
(17:36):
from birth to age 25. Oh, okay. And so
and that's something that is often the the older kids are
often not forgotten about, but that's a harder whenever you think about it, you're
thinking, oh, you're thinking young kids, birth through 10 years old.
That you think through those toys, and so we always get a lot of great
toys Right. Drives, donations through that. But we're also
(17:57):
providing up to age 25. So we're dealing with teenagers, young adults,
and supporting them as well is is a big thing. It's sort of I was
talking with someone yesterday. It's sort of the forgotten about age group
is that, like They're kind of invisible. Teen to 25. It's you're just
like, oh, yeah. Like, especially the 18 to 25 range. Like, there's
nothing really for you right here. Right. And we like to make sure that those
(18:20):
kids are loved as well, and those kids have everything that they need. And so
we do send you, like, adolescent young adult bags that we provide
for those families and those kids as well to help help them out. And,
of course, when it comes to the holidays, we do a a holiday shop of
where families can come in and shop for Christmas for their kids, and we
like to make sure that we have toys from the teenagers seriously, like
(18:43):
headphones, Bluetooth speakers Electronics. Clothing equipment,
electronics. Yeah. Makeup. And it's always one of the sections. Like, gosh. I
don't even someone was asking me yesterday. Well, what what do you need for these
kids? I was like, Everything. No. Like, everything. Like, I'm trying to
like, I'm not a teenager anymore. It's like, what do I what do I want
at that age? Right. Right. That that we can provide their
(19:04):
for their needs as well. Yeah. Yeah. And other than the
Christmas event, what other type of events do you have?
Another great question. We do events all year round. In fact, we have our
biggest fundraising event coming up on April 5 this year, and that is our once
upon a dream gala. And so this is our biggest fundraiser. You can come out,
support, buy a ticket, buy a table. We're always looking for auction items. So
(19:26):
that's sort of just your usual come, and we
have dinner, a cocktail a dancing, an auction, tell
people sort of the story of who Pickle Up is. But we do all sorts
of things. We have a clay shoot. We have a disc golf tournament.
We have a regular golf tournament. We have a pickleball tournament.
We do a a fun run. We we do all sorts of events
(19:47):
as fundraisers throughout the year, and then we have events like our holiday
shop for our families, and then we'll do, like, photoshoots
for our ambassadors and get togethers for our big love family
who are our families who have gone through survivorship, gone through treatment,
and are still just part of our organization. We'll do events with them.
And then we just like to cover events this events happen throughout Texas, the
(20:11):
cities in Texas. Right? Yes, ma'am. Yep. All throughout Texas. So and and and
Austin, in San Antonio, in Killeen,
in Houston, the Houston Greater Houston area, so Pearland,
Conroe, all all around the area. And so we're very So is the
gala gonna be here in Houston? Yes, ma'am. The gala is here in Houston in
The Heights, and we are looking forward to a fun night.
(20:33):
Yeah. My understanding is that that people can go in all
dressed up or they can dress up in costumes. Yep. Yeah. They can get dressed
up in costume. Fair yep. It's very tough even. So I know that we'll have
some kiddos there who are dressed up in in their best prince charming
and fairy tale costumes, and we're excited to see that. They're pretty
princess dresses. Absolutely. Yeah. That's
(20:55):
great. That's great. So other than
going to a gala, we can help in many ways. And
and sometimes we can't make any of your events other events.
So is there a way that we can help?
Yes. Tons of ways that we can help. First of all, we always need
volunteers. So if someone's interested in volunteering, you can go to our
(21:18):
website, biglovecancercare.org, and you can click on the
get involved button, and that will take you to our volunteer page. We always need
help in all of our cities, but, really, especially here in Houston
too, getting people to help us out in the medical center, people who are comfortable
driving down there and and dealing with that traffic. But Yeah. It's scary
over there. Yeah. It is scary. It is scary. But we always need help there.
(21:40):
We so we can always use volunteers a lot in our ways and volunteers for
our events as well. Also, we're we always do drives of
all sorts of types. So toy drives, toiletry drives, gift card
drives, Anything like that always helps too. I was
talking with some people yesterday about I would love to show people our
storage, which is full of toys. And people would be like, oh my gosh. You
(22:00):
have so many toys. I said, yes. We have so many toys. If you look
at it right now, but it we rotate through those toys so fast. Because every
time we go to the hospital, we're pushing around a car of toys with us
and passing those out as well. Yeah. And you need people to help you organize
that. Exactly. Oh, yeah. That's always big. We actually just had a big old organizing
party the other day. I walked out. I was like, wow. This looks great. Yeah.
(22:21):
And then also helping out by giving. Donations is is what
funds our whole organization. Yeah. And we can't do it without people helping us in
that way. And there's tons of ways to give, giving monthly. You can
give to be a sponsor in an event. And then organizations too, if you're
if you they do matching giving. Like, I know a lot of companies will
do, oh, we'll match your gifts for your nonprofit. See if your company does that,
(22:43):
and we'll gladly be the recipient of that match as well. And you have
a a shop as well where you can get t shirts and other items?
Yeah. You can buy some of our merch and some big love t shirts. Gosh.
We have all sorts of things in there. And so we'd love to tell you
some of that as well, and that's helped out all these kids too. So how
many families and patients do you help throughout the
year? Yeah. Every year, we serve over a hundred thousand
(23:07):
kids all across the state of Texas. Yeah. It it's pretty
pretty astonishing the number of kids that are dealing with cancer.
And that's a huge number, and we're really proud of that. But when you also
take a step back and think, wow. That's just the tip of the iceberg because
we're only at 10 hospitals across Texas. Yeah. And you just think about how
many hospitals there are across the country who are doing that, across the world
(23:29):
who are doing that. Yeah. And we're we're proud of that hundred thousand, and we're
happy to to share those kids every year, but we know that there's there's still
a lot of work to be done. Yeah. And there's more and more kids
week or every month that that are coming in with into the
hospitals with that same diagnosis, some type of cancer.
Absolutely. Yeah. You definitely, need
(23:51):
everybody's help if possible. This is You know?
All the all the help all the help helps. Yeah. If you can't be there
personally, then go into the shop or just donate,
you know, what you can Absolutely. Weekly.
Mhmm. So, Alec, where can we find all the
information on Big Love Cancer Care?
(24:15):
Yeah. Our website is gonna be your main hub and main source of
information. So
www.biglovecancercare.org, and
that is gonna be the main spot where you can find everything. But you can
also follow us on social media. We have a Facebook, it's an
Instagram x, all of those things, and
it's at big love cancer care for most of those. If you go to our
(24:38):
website and you click we have all the icons at the bottom. Click on it.
It'll take you right to that page as well. Yeah. Yes. What about a phone
number? Oh, that is a great question. It is
(888)
522-7339, and it'll send you
to whoever the right person is to answer your phone call. Yeah. And one more
question. Where can we donate toys or
(25:00):
other items like makeup for girls and Absolutely. Other
things for for kids? Where can we make our donations?
That's a great question. If you would just email,
one of our team members. You can email me,
alec@biglovecancercare.org. So that's
alec@biglovecancercare.org. And you say, hey. I've got a
donation, and we'll find a time or a place to meet up. We're all we
(25:23):
don't have a central hub office, or we give you a way to drop it
off at our storage unit. We'll find a time and the best way to connect
and and pick up that donation. Yeah. And are you available
for these families, these parents, and family
members twenty four seven? Great question. So
not twenty four seven, but pretty close to it. We we have work office
(25:46):
hours, sort of eight eight to five. But something that we do really pride
ourselves in is that we're at the hospital fifty two weeks a year. We are
not just there during the holiday season at the end of the year,
but we are there every week. And so I know our director programs here in
Houston. I'm pretty sure she's at the hospital at least three or four days a
week. I don't know when she gets any of her admin work done, but she
(26:06):
is there, and she's always reaching out. And so we are accessible
through their social workers as well. And so they go through their social workers, and
that's how they communicate with us. So I know that their social workers are whatever
their social workers are available to them, then their social workers will know, and they'll
reach out to us and get us connected with them. So if it's super late
at night, it'll be first thing in the morning, but our team is on top
(26:27):
of things. I know that I see our team taking care of things. Once that
8AM hits, they're they're there. They're answering requests, and they're getting
things taken care of. Yeah. And I'm sure they get to know the families
really well, so they're gonna wanna be there as much as
possible. Absolutely. Yeah. We've we've built some really cool relationships with
these families over the years, and it's fun to get to see them and and
(26:48):
watch them grow up and and watch them grow through treatment and and be there
alongside them through this journey. And just hold the the the
parents' hands through all this. And
and like I said, we can't or I can't imagine
the pain. But when you're there holding their
hand, you can see it, you can feel it,
(27:11):
and but you're there supporting them. I mean, all I can think
of is trying to put myself in their shoes. Absolutely.
Wanting somebody there to guide me to hold my hand.
Absolutely. I I I can't imagine going through what these families go through.
And I see it all the time and just wanting to be there and to
support those families because that's what I would want in those situations as
(27:33):
well. Yeah. Because sometimes there aren't enough social workers
or enough nurses to be there with you throughout
the day, and you might need something. And who can you call?
Yeah. They're busy. They got a busy they got a busy Yeah. The nurses have
their hands their have their hands on there, and they do great work. And we're
really grateful to have them on our team to help Definitely. To help
(27:55):
these families. Definitely. Thank goodness. So give
us your website address one more time.
Biglovecancercare.org. Okay.
And the phone number? It is (888)
522-7339. And then if you
have any questions or anything else that you wanna email, you
(28:17):
can email admin, a d m I n, at
big love cancer care dot org as well. Mhmm. Well,
Alec, thank you so much for for joining me and for
informing us about how Big Love,
cancer care organization helps parents
with their children's journey of
(28:39):
with cancer Mhmm. Which is really difficult.
Absolutely. Well, thank you so much for having me. I really do appreciate it. It's
always a joy to get to to talk about big love and and what we're
up to and and how we're helping ease that childhood cancer journey all across the
state of Texas. And putting my smiles on these kids' faces
too. Absolutely. It brings a smile to our faces too, getting to see that
(29:00):
smile. Yeah. And, of course, I'd like to thank you all
as well for joining me for this edition of Spotlight
Houston. Please send me your comments or any
story ideas you may have too. Thank you.
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