Our Purpose
Berni & Murcer – Friends for LifeTM is a specialized comfort program that works in collaboration with medical professionals and families to provide emotional support, day-to-day comfort, encouragement, and inspiration to children diagnosed with cancer and other life threatening illnesses through the use of manipulatives and materials that are designed to have therapeutic value.
Our Goal
To aid and advance the recovery of children while providing solace to their family members. As a comfort program, it is an essential component of the managed care process from diagnosis to reentry into community.
Our Call to Action
Each year, more than 27,000 children in the U.S., ages 3 to 18 are diagnosed with a life-threatening illness. That’s over and above the many hundreds of thousands of children already diagnosed with a potentially deadly illness. Another powerful fact: each year, more than 40,000 children in the U.S. undergo treatment for pediatric cancer.
As one can imagine, these children and their families are faced with a struggle often filled with fear and emotional trauma. Treatments and surgical procedures can be scary and even disfiguring, causing many of these children to isolate themselves and become socially withdrawn. Debilitating anxiety and depression are also common among both patient and family members.
Unfortunately, it can be difficult for children and their families to find the emotional stability and support they need during this life changing event. While there are many organizations that offer help to seriously ill children, none has been established to do what Berni & Murcer – Friends for LifeTM does.
Here's how we do it...