Jennifer O’Gorman’s number one piece of advice for families facing what she has faced is this: “Everyone has lots of advice for you, but you have to do what you know is best and trust your gut.  You have to do what feels right for you.”

In May 2013, Jennifer’s husband Pat was diagnosed with a glioblastoma multiforme tumor in the front of his brain.  A mere eight days after surgery, he was determined to use his experience for good. Jennifer explains, “He felt like his mission was to touch one person every day and tell his story to give them hope.”  She pauses, and with a quiet laugh remembers, “He was never shy and would talk with anyone any chance he had.”

Originally published in May 2019, Cheryl continues to climb her mountains, particularly inspiring others living with brain cancer.

If Cheryl Broyles is a little more teary-eyed than most moms at Oregon State University's graduation this spring, she has good reason.  When her son Grant receives his degree, she just might be thinking about how she never even expected to see him start kindergarten.

In July 2000, Cheryl was diagnosed with a Glioblastoma Multiforme brain tumor and told she had a year to live, more or less.  At the time, her children Grant and Clint were three and one. Miraculously, Cheryl has seen them graduate from high school and set out on their own career paths, which, not-so-coincidentally, reflect the values she and her husband Matt have pursued.  The family of wildlife biologists had plenty of experience putting their passion into practice during summer vacations when they celebrated each anniversary of Cheryl’s survival with a huge outdoor adventure.

Matt, Clint, Cheryl, and Grant on their 2010 Inheritance of Hope Legacy RetreatⓇ

Lex Berthelsen was shocked in December 2017 upon being diagnosed with grade 3a stage IV follicular lymphoma.  The father of three, along with his wife Brooke, immediately sought out cancer survivors and cancer thrivers, relationships that led them to Inheritance of Hope. 

“We weren’t sure,” Brooke remembered, “but we printed out the application for an IoH Legacy Retreat® anyway, and did it.  I’m so grateful we did.”

What do families do? They laugh together. They cry together. They celebrate together. They make memories together. And, they have family reunions!

We look forward to opening registration once our vendors resume normal operations. In the meantime, mark your calendars: Sept. 5-7, 2020 (note slight date change from our previous announcement) at Renaissance Orlando at SeaWorld.

We invite you to make more family memories, re-connect with other families/volunteers, and form new relationships with our larger IoH family.

“It was like a giant hug, just wrapped up in a fancy bow,” described Laura Scampoli of the recent Inheritance of Hope C.A.R.E. Retreat that she attended with her children.  Originally, Laura, her husband Rich, and their four daughters were scheduled to attend an Inheritance of Hope Legacy Retreat® in April 2019. Rich passed away from pancreatic cancer a little over a month before the planned trip to Orlando.

Out of our record-breaking 16 new volunteers, five are former family members served--and you know what that meant--lots of hugs and smiles as we welcomed them back!  Get to know a few of them here!

Our newest Inheritance of Hope volunteers along with our “first-timers” from Kendra Scott and Dillard’s

Being a big ‘ole family, we just love to welcome new folks in and celebrate all the ways people find Inheritance of Hope!  Here are the stories of how a few recent volunteers became involved. 

Nine new volunteers reported for duty in Orlando on our August retreat! (L to R: Jaci Ranieri, Taylor Andersen, Leah Stapleton, Kent Hagen, Jenn Valenti, Cael Thompson, Ana Liz Greene, Ashton Guerra, not pictured: Lynsey Brock)

You’ve heard us say it before: IoH is a family.  And what do families have? Reunions! 

Four IoH families: the Boisses, Earles, Carters, and Suttons reunite in Washington

The IoH family welcomed nine new volunteers into our ranks at the first-ever North Carolina Inheritance of Hope Legacy RetreatⓇ:  Beth Batchelder, Suzie Boatright, Hailey Boonstra, Rae McMannis, Fred Morse, Dawn Keel, Marina Randles, Diane Sohl, and Jill Vaughan.

New volunteers ready to serve

Our family is growing.  Inheritance of Hope now has a roster of 300+ amazing volunteers!  On our Orlando Legacy Retreat in April, we were thrilled to welcome the following into our ranks:

Ethan Baur, Clara Beovich, Caroline Braun, Mara Caples, Ally Dee, Anna Latimer, Emileah Most, Micah Most, Sara Theisen, Ethan Trejo, and Cheryl Yeaton.

Get to know them a little better here!