Thank you.

As 2016 draws to a close and we celebrate the holiday season, we want to take a moment to recognize all you have helped us to accomplish this year.

Your support is saving lives and giving hope to thousands of skin cancer patients across Canada - together, we are making a real difference. Because of you, the Save Your Skin Foundation has been able to accomplish the below activities and so much more.

On behalf of everyone at Save Your Skin and all of the patients we help, thank you and may your holiday season be merry and bright.

Save Your Skin Foundation

This year marked the 10-year anniversary of the Save Your Skin Foundation and 10 years since Kathy Barnard (SYSF Founder) was told that she had six months to live. To frame this moment, the Foundation wanted to do something special. Kathy wanted to capture the melanoma patient’s journey in a unique way: The emotions, the thoughts, the moments of despair and the moments of hope. As the saying goes, “a picture is worth a thousand words.” This is why we created the Melanoma Through My Lens Reflection Project. Six Canadians including Kathy, living with advanced melanoma, came together to tell their melanoma stories in a visually impactful way. This book captured the individual journeys in a series of photos that tell the personal stories with one common message: We are not alone and neither are you. We have come together to raise awareness and to make a difference. By sharing this e-book with as many people as you know, you can help spread the word.

In September we launched a new awareness video series that covers topics such as basal cell carcinoma (BCC), Actinic Keratosis and Squamous Cell Carcinoma (SCC) as well as general information on melanoma and disease prevention. The videos are located on Save Your Skin Foundation's YouTube Channel and have already received hundreds of views.

Dealing with skin disease and skin cancer can be difficult for the patient, as well as for caregivers and loved ones. The Save Your Skin Foundation’s October 6, 2016 ‘Mountain or Mole Hill?’ Free Skin Cancer Patient Forum took place in Nanaimo, B.C. and provided a place to connect while receiving valuable feedback, resources, information and support. Thank you to so many of you who braved the wind and rain and joined us for a great evening. We are so glad we could answer your questions and help to provide greater and awareness and support.

Every patient deserves a #FairChance at equal, timely, affordable access to new cancer treatments. On November 23, 2016 the Save Your Skin Foundation sent out a press release to national news outlets voicing our concerns. Across Canada, cancer patients are being restricted access to innovative new treatments due to funding recommendations made by health technology assessment agencies and provinces. Over the past year, patient access to some cancer treatments approved by Health Canada have been seriously limited as the result of these recommendations. We want all patients to have a fair chance so we launched a #FairChance social media campaign alongside our media efforts and also shared our Patient Advocacy Tool-Kit so that others can share their voice as well.

The Save Your Skin Foundation is a proud partner in Giving Tuesday, a global day of giving. On Tuesday, November 29, we challenged you to raise $1,500. And...drum roll please...we surpassed our goal raising $2,050! Thank you to all our generous donors. The money raised has gone directly to patients to help them get the life saving treatment they need.

Thank you for supporting our prevention, education and awareness initiatives and for helping us raise funds to save lives from melanoma. We are extremely grateful for your ongoing support.

Wishing you a happy holiday season!

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