The Pre-Health Professions Institute hosted a holiday party for Cancer Care Services to support local patients and their families on Dec. 4 in the BLUU. Pre-Health students volunteered to greet guests and act as Santa's helpers. The first 20 families to arrive received gift bundles, and guests enjoyed hot chocolate, snacks, crafts, pictures with Santa, custom balloon art, face painting and a special visit from SuperFrog.

Cancer Care Services is a non-profit organization that started in 1946 and provides free cancer support for patients, caregivers, and their families. Their goal is to empower survivors by reducing the impact of cancer on the patients’ financial, mental, and physical well-being. To evolve with client needs, Cancer Care added registered oncology dietitians in 2013 and licensed counselors in 2017. They also added advocacy to their services in 2019 and visited with State lawmakers to encourage their support of the Cancer Prevention Research Institute of Texas. In 2020, Cancer Care hired a financial advocate for those impacted by the financial trauma of cancer.

Sarah Jung, Coordinator for the Pre-Health Professions Institute, says, “This organization is a great match for TCU’s Pre-Health Professions Institute. In addition to this party, our students have the ability to volunteer at Cancer Care Services and Texas Oncology to gain experience. These are new volunteer opportunities being offered this fall for the first time to our Pre-Health students. This event is an important part of TCU Pre-Health’s community-driven approach to student engagement, leadership and service learning. Opportunities like this holiday event for Cancer Care Services provide our students with a pragmatic, progressive learning experience while also meeting societal needs. Real-world community engagement like this provides TCU Pre-Health students with an experiential education that goes beyond the classroom.”

Learn more about TCU’s Pre-Health Professions Institute and Cancer Care Services.