I was diagnosed with breast cancer in October 2017. Early on I realized how important my family and friends would be in my life while surviving this disease. However, a month into my treatments I also realized just how important the kindness of strangers could be. A group called Rumble Against Cancer reached out to me, and from there they made an everlasting impact on my life. They gave me the gift of hope that day and sparked something inside me.
As my cancer journey began, I started to feel the emotional toll of having cancer. One of my biggest struggles was the waiting. As patients we spend many long hours in waiting rooms. We wait for appointments, we wait for test results, we wait for treatments. A waiting room is not an easy place to be. We all sit there, waiting, not knowing whether we will live through the cancer or die from the disease.
One day I decided I had to do something to shift my mood. I needed to focus on something greater than myself, and that is when the idea came to me. Why not turn something like sitting in a waiting room into a positive experience? From that point on I started my own personal campaign. I began handing out envelopes of hope. Inside each envelope I placed a note of encouragement, a monetary gift and signed it “from a cancer survivor”.
My purpose was simple. Giving hope, lifting hearts.
The impact I felt while handing out envelopes gave me a new purpose in life. I was slowly turning my cancer journey into something positive and rewarding. I was making a difference, not only in my life but in others as well. As a cancer patient I understand what all patients need. We need encouragement, we need love, we need compassion and most importantly we need hope.
So, my journey continues. God is continuing to put amazing people in my path. I have support and guidance from my husband, family and friends. I was blessed, so I could become a blessing. The Rumble Riders gave me inspiration and encouragement at a time that I desperately needed it. I am grateful, not for the cancer, but all the blessings that come from having cancer. The future is bright. My simple idea is evolving, and I have met many incredible people who also want to help and show their support. We have started a charity called Envelopes for Hope to continue what I started on my own. Our mission is to lift cancer patients’ spirits, to make them feel loved and give them the gift of hope.

Kimberly, Survivor Since 2017
