Today we’d like to introduce you to Jessica Phillips.
Hi Jessica, so excited to have you on the platform. So, before we get into questions about your work life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today.
I never truly understood the immense and profound depths of love until my five-year-old daughter Brooke battled leukemia. As her mom, I walked beside my girl every step of the way for two years as she endured countless surgeries, chemotherapy, and a bone marrow transplant, and I held her in my arms until she passed away on September 29, 2006. Her courage and faith challenged my heart and life, but it was her extraordinary BIG Love that changed me forever.
Early in treatment, Brooke had become extremely ill with an aggressive lung infection. One day, as we were sitting in the radiology department awaiting our scans, we could hear the child next to us crying and struggling in pain. Without hesitation, Brooke reached over and grabbed my hand, and with eyes of love, she said, “Momma, we need to pray for that baby right now.” In this moment, I felt emotionally exhausted, but as we prayed, I began to realize the magnitude of what just happened. My little girl was able to set aside her own pain and her own suffering to see the needs of others. From this day forward, Brooke was on a mission. If she heard a child crying, she would want to help. She shared her food, her toys, her smiles.
B.I.G. (Brooke’s Incredible Gift) Love Cancer Care was established in 2007 in Brooke’s memory to continue her extraordinary legacy of love. Fifteen years later, B.I.G. Love is now providing care to over 100,000 cancer kids and their families each year, serving eight Texas Hospitals. My daughter may have only lived for five short years, but her love changed the course of my life forever and has impacted thousands of others. I can still hear her little voice inside my heart saying, “Go help them, Mom. Let’s pray for them, Mom. Let’s take them some food.”
Until a cure is found, I will work hard to LOVE BIG – just like she taught me.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
The biggest obstacle has been starting in a small town with only $3,000 in the bank. Fundraising has been the greatest challenge while balancing all of the intense programming we do every week for cancer kids and their families.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
In 2004, my daughter Brooke was diagnosed with leukemia and passed away in my arms on September 29, 2006. Her love changed my life forever, and her illness gave me insight to recognize the strong need for basic support for the littlest and sickest in our communities. Although BIG Love was born out of much suffering, we believe we can ease the suffering for thousands of others through our own first-hand experience and innovative approaches to pediatric cancer care.
Until a cure is found, the journey through cancer, especially one for a child, is incomprehensible. BIG Love strives to ease the childhood cancer journey by meeting the most basic and urgent physical, emotional, and financial needs of oncology and hematology patients and their families throughout their entire cancer journey and beyond.
Organization History
BIG Love Cancer Care is a Texas-born, local grassroots organization founded by a cancer family in 2007. The organization’s first program provided catered meals and gift baskets for families during each holiday at Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston. BIG Love programming expanded to Texas Children’s Hospital in Katy, TX in 2011, to Dell Children’s Medical Center of Austin in 2014, and to Texas Children’s Hospital in The Woodlands in 2016. In January of 2018, BIG Love Cancer Care was asked by MD Anderson Children’s Cancer Hospital to join their pediatric oncology team. In 2019, BIG Love extended to Methodist Children’s Hospital in San Antonio, TX serving their bone marrow transplant unit. In 2022, B.I.G. Love was asked to help children and families at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, TX, and McLane Children’s Hospital in Temple, TX. We said yes! In 2023, our hopes remain steadfast – to scale the vital and essential programs of BIG Love across additional hospitals – including The Children’s Hospital of San Antonio and Memorial Hermann Children’s Hospital of Houston.
Today, BIG Love serves hundreds of thousands of patients and their families across 10 Texas Hospitals and five outpatient clinics, 52 weeks a year.
Agency Services/Programs
B.I.G. Love is a local grassroots organization founded by cancer families who use their firsthand experience to develop programs targeted to meet the real needs facing cancer kids and families every single day. BIG Love programs effectively address the challenges and concerns that are most critical and urgent.
BIG Love targets four main focus areas – basic needs, financial support, end-of-life support, and emotional/supportive services.
Food – Basic Needs:
135 catered meals delivered every week
Unit kitchens and refrigerators stocked with food every week
Comfort carts, hospitality carts, loads of toys, and holiday baskets
70 wishes for basic needs/toys/food granted every week
Financial and Urgent Requests:
42% Urgent request for food – delivered directly to homes
14% Financial assistance
11% Housing, Mortgage, rent assistance
11% Basic Items: furniture, AC unit, Infant car seat, beds, etc.
6 % Payment of electric bills and other household bills
6% Transportation, travel, gas, car repairs
6% Medical bills and supplies such as: equipment for amputee patients, wheelchair
End-of-life Support
Weekly Wishes
Food and Meal Delivery
Gift cards
Special wishes or trips granted
Funeral assistance
Free counseling
Emotional/Supportive Services
73 Scholarships to-date for cancer survivors
Sibling support groups
Peer Support Groups
Teletherapy/counseling
Program Impact for 2022
Serving 8 Texas Hospitals and 2 outpatient clinics
681 families newly diagnosed received gifts, food, gift cards, and other necessary supplies
1229 Kids were granted weekly wishes for special food, toys, clothes, comfort items
199 families received significant financial support for housing, funerals, transportation
64 End-of-life families received personalized care including: meals, gift cards, special requests
35 Kids are enrolled in our Sibling Support Groups (SibStrong)
68 families are enrolled in a support group and receive special opportunities and gifts
1962 Holiday gifts and baskets delivered to help make the holidays brighter
23,196 Individuals have received food, drinks, snacks (Snack Shack/Cart Program)
7019 Healthy Catered meals delivered to hospital rooms
57 Free Individual Grief Therapy sessions provided
21 College Scholarships given to survivors or their siblings ($2k each)
126 Families sponsored for Christmas
What makes BIG LOVE Different:
B.I.G. Love does not invest in research or awareness…we are strictly service-based. Our aim is to meet the needs that we ourselves, as cancer families, endured while battling childhood cancer.
B.I.G. Love offers over 15 plus service-based programs.
B.I.G. Love provides consistent and personalized care 52 weeks a year! Not just holidays or summer months.
B.I.G. Love was founded by cancer families, so we understand the needs firsthand.
B.I.G. Love has a Board of Directors as well as three advisory boards who are largely made of hematology/oncology families.
B.I.G. Love provides services to ALL hematology and oncology patients (ages birth to 25 years old) regardless of income. Our families never have to submit an application to receive services! Everyone receives equal care.
B.I.G. Love is a local-grassroots organization – not a national non-profit.
B.I.G. Love is guided by strong compassion, integrity, stewardship, ethics, and faith.
B.I.G. Love does NOT have an office, electric bills, or huge overhead costs.
B.I.G. Love is true to one purpose – to ease the childhood cancer journey.
B.I.G. Love meets the needs of over 100,000 patients and their families each year.
B.I.G. Love is flexible and can respond to pressing community needs of cancer families immediately (like Covid-19, natural disasters, etc.).
B.I.G. Love has a team of hundreds of committed volunteers who give of themselves every single week!
B.I.G. Love mobilizes and utilizes over $150,000 of In-Kind donations annually!
B.I.G. Love is TANGIBLE! We provide food, clothes, toiletries, gas cards, beds, medical supplies, toys, funeral help, and more.
B.I.G. Love now serves nine TEXAS hospitals!
Alright, so before we go, can you talk to us a bit about how people can work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
Volunteers have a host of opportunities to make a difference in the cancer community. – Opportunity to attend any of our cancer family social events to assist with activities (Christmas party, Top Golf, Support Groups, etc.).
– Work on the cancer unit and deliver items to rooms, stock the kitchen with food, and deliver holiday baskets
– Initiate a collection of: toys, pajamas, gift cards, toiletries, etc.
– Sponsor a cancer kid and family for Christmas.
– Assemble holiday bags, new diagnosis bags, and superhero boxes.
– Write cards or put together craft kits and toiletry kits.
– Host a social event for our kids and families. For example, Kendra Scott just hosted our families at the Domain.
– Volunteer at any of our seven special events throughout the year.
– Volunteers can shop for the requested grocery and comfort items submitted to BIG Love each week (we shop for 25 kids/families each week).
Contact Info:
- Website: https://biglovecancercare.org/
- Instagram: @biglovecancercare
- Facebook: @biglovecancercare
- Twitter: @biglovecancer
