OUR PROGRAMS

BEGINNING WITH ONE FAMILY IN 2011

From 2011 to 2014 LESLIE’S WEEK gifted 4 families A Week Way From Cancer in its RETREAT4STAGE4. In 2015 LESLIE'S WEEK gifted five families, in 2016 sixteen families, in 2017 twenty-three families, in 2018 thirty-five families, in 2019 thirty-four families, COVID combined years 2020 and 2021 to host forty-six families, in 2022 twenty-one families, in 2023 twenty-five families, and 2024 twenty-two families.

LESLIE'S WEEK has gifted A Week Away from Cancer in its RETREAT4STAGE4 to more than 231 Stage 4 Breast Cancer women and their families.

The famous Dollywood DreamMore Resort is our destination in the Tennessee Smoky Mountains. We check in between the last week of July and the first week of August. Our families Create Memories that Outlast Cancer in a Celebration of Life!

A FORUM DESIGNED FOR
EMOTIONAL HEALING, COMMUNITY
ENGAGEMENT, BONDING, & SHARING

CIRCLE4STAGE4 is a discussion forum for Stage 4 Breast Cancer women to meet and bond in their common disease. The outcomes have been positive and profound in the release of the isolation felt by these women in their Stage 4 Breast Cancer experience. They make friends with those who share their commonalities of therapies, treatments, pharmaceuticals, clinical trials, and progression. They bond and form avenues of communication. This program provides each woman the opportunity to develop friendships and a circle of support that extends beyond the mountains of Tennessee. LESLIE'S WEEK has a private Facebook page for them to continue their discussion and expand their circle of Stage 4 MBC friends.

a forum designed to
heal, awaken, network,
discuss, & support

HANDS4GIVERS is a discussion forum for husband caregivers guided by the experiences of others who lost their loved ones to this disease. Husbands are isolated, alone, struggling with family finances, pressured by the unknown, and seeing their loved ones in decline and pain each day. They are in financial toxicity with all funds spent on keeping the Stage 4 BC woman alive. This forum allows them to open up and express their rage, fears, and uncertainties about what the future holds for them and their families. Our first forum saw them break down in tears, one caregiver couldn’t talk, and others were venting their rage against this disease. The LESLIE’S WEEK caregivers are never alone after their HANDS4GIVERS experience. The LESLIE’S WEEK private Facebook page for our husband caregivers aids in their communication and guidance from those who have lost their loved ones.

a DAY OF
CARING, LOVING,
UNDERSTANDING, & BONDING

CLUB4KIDS is an art expression experience for the children of our Honorees who are between the ages of 3 and 12. This creative experience releases their fear and anxiety. Many are traumatized by watching their mother in decline each day. They are unfamiliar with the emotions they feel and are unable to put them into words. They are in our art expression room with many other children who walk in their shoes. Through this art program, they begin to unleash their fears by creating art pieces representing their anxieties. Many gift their creations to their mothers, who are the first women they fall in love with.

Are You Ready For YOUR Voice To Be Heard?

DREAMS4TEENS is a program for the teens of our Honorees from the ages of 13 to 18. They experience friendship with those who genuinely understand the emotions, struggles, and victories they face daily while living with their Stage 4 breast cancer mother. It is also for those teens who have lost their mother to this devastating disease. DREAMS4TEENS is a safe space for teens to let go and be vulnerable. It is an exciting space for teens to create lifelong memories and friends. It is a loving space where our arms embrace every teen who comes through our open doors. We give teens a community where they grow and find freedom from their isolation, fear, and anxiety. The mission of DREAMS4TEENS is to encourage these connections to spark new dreams in their lives. The LESLIE'S WEEK private Instagram page for our teens allows them to continue their discussions with other teens experiencing the same life trials.

Our LESLIE’S WEEK volunteer SECRET SANTAS selects a family from our 2024 Honoree list and adopts the children for Christmas gifts. The Secret Santas are given the email of the mother if she is alive, or the caregiver. The family supplies the child’s Christmas list of not more than 5 items. The LW Santas select the gifts from the list. They mail the gifts to the parents to put under the tree on Christmas Eve. Many of our donors return year after year.

WAYS TO DONATE

LESLIE’S WEEK EDUCATIONAL ASSISTANCE FUND is available to children who attended LESLIE’S WEEK RETREAT4STAGE4 and have been accepted into a college, university, vocational school, or other accredited institution of higher learning. Awards are sent to the designated institution in HONOR of the applicant’s mother. Our Stage 4 Breast Cancer Women are never forgotten, nor are their children.

CLICK HERE FOR APPLICATION DETAILS