08/01/2026
Last Saturday, because of this incredible community, the 11th Annual Care Packs and Cocktails became the most successful fundraiser in our organization’s history, to bring love, community, empowerment, and resources to cancer fighters and their families.
This morning, I learned that one of our beautiful 2025 survivor runway models lost her battle with metastatic breast cancer.
She was only 36 years old. A devoted mom of six. A light in every room she entered, and a cherished part of the Tenaciously Teal family.
She received one of our Care Packs, then joined us at Tenacious Together gatherings, and allowed us to walk alongside her in some of life’s hardest moments. At one of our flower arranging events, as she was leaving with tears in her eyes, she hugged me and said, “Thank you for helping me forget about cancer for a while.”
Just days before this year’s gala, I had the privilege of praying over her in the hospital as her family wrestled with the difficult news of treatments no longer working.
Today I keep thinking about last year’s runway. She walked that stage with strength, beauty, and joy, lighting up a room of nearly 1,000 people. Most of the crowd had no idea she already knew her cancer was terminal. But for one evening, she wasn’t defined by her diagnosis. She was celebrated. She was radiant. She was surrounded by love. And her family will always have that memory.
This is why we fundraise.
Not just to deliver a Care Pack, provide financial assistance, or host an event. We fundraise to create moments of hope. Moments of community. Moments where, even if only for an evening, someone can laugh, feel beautiful, make a new friend, arrange flowers, walk a runway, and simply forget about cancer for a little while. It’s worth it.
As we celebrate a record-breaking year, we’re also reminded exactly why this mission matters.
Because of your generosity, thousands more cancer fighters will experience those moments.
Thank you for helping us illuminate the night for families like Laura Rodriguez 🩵
