It started with a simple question: How can we help them? It
became an international movement called NEGU: Never Ever Give Up. When Jessica
Joy Rees was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor at age 11, she chose to
focus not on herself but on bringing joy and hope to other children suffering
from cancer.
During the ten months she battled cancer, she and her family
worked in the “Joy Factory” (originally their garage) making JoyJars®—packages
filled with toys, games, and love for other kids with cancer. Jessie first
handed them out personally at the hospital where she was being treated, but the
effort blossomed quickly and there were soon thousands of JoyJars® being
distributed across the United States and to over fifteen countries. Today, more
than 100,000 kids have received JoyJars®, and they continue shipping each week
to kids in over 200 children’s hospitals and 175 Ronald McDonald Houses.
Nearly a year after Jessie’s passing, she won a “Young Wonders” award from CNN, which was presented at the annual “CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute” awards ceremony in Los Angeles, hosted by Anderson Cooper. Ten “Heroes” and three “Young Wonders” awards were handed out, with presentations on a large screen to show the audience what each of the winners had done to earn their honors
Nearly a year after Jessie’s passing, she won a “Young Wonders” award from CNN, which was presented at the annual “CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute” awards ceremony in Los Angeles, hosted by Anderson Cooper. Ten “Heroes” and three “Young Wonders” awards were handed out, with presentations on a large screen to show the audience what each of the winners had done to earn their honors
Jessie lost her battle with cancer in January 2012, but her
message lives on in the Jessie Rees Foundation, which has become a beacon of
hope for families fighting pediatric cancer.
Join the movement at www.negu.org.
Jessie Joy Rees got brain cancer at eleven. DIPG is a rare
inoperable, incurable tumor in the middle of the brain stem. This tragic story
touches on all the layers of human life: bad things do happen to good people,
even when you have a strong belief in God, and you will struggle with your
faith when the answer you get isn’t what you prayed for. How do you go on? This
book really touched me. I think we can all imagine how we would feel if this
was our daughter. Jessie Rees challenges each one of us to make this world a
better place by thinking of other's needs before our own and reaching out to
spread joy through acts of kindness...especially to those children battling
cancer. Her joy jars have made so many kids happy and maybe forget if even for
a second just how sick they are. They are filled with toys and activities.
Jessie created 3,000 jars herself in her 10 month battle and her family, friends
want to carry on her mission.
I would like to thank Handlebar Publishing and Zondervan
Publishing for this review copy of Never Ever Give Up by Erik Rees with Jenna
Glatzer. The opinions within this review are completely my own, as I was not
required to write a positive review.
NEGU Q&A
Erik Rees
1.
Never Ever
Give Up is immensely personal. Why is it important to
share your daughter’s story?
I had
three goals for sharing Jessie’s story; increase awareness of childhood cancer,
give people facing personal hurdles in life hope and to create a wave of
compassion through personal acts of kindness.
2.
Where did Jessie come up with the idea of creating
JoyJars? Why did she do this, instead of focusing on herself?
Jessie came up with the idea after she started
treatment and learned there were lots of children that couldn’t leave the hospital. She just had a burden for them and wanted to
help them. The name actually came from
taking her middle name “joy” and adding it to “jars”. She choose to spread joy because she knew
life was about giving not getting.
3.
How did making the JoyJars, not only help others,
but also begin helping your family? JoyJars
gave Jessie a sense of purpose during her fight with cancer. She loved filling each one and sending them
out to kids. She really loved seeing
pictures of kids holding her JoyJars on Facebook. Our entire family helped Jessie with JoyJars
and today we still stuff “joy” as a family in her honor.
4.
Tell us about the Facebook page Jessie created. How
did social media help Jessie throughout battling cancer?
We needed a way to keep people updated on Jessie’s
condition so we were going to create a CaringBridge page but she didn’t want
one so we suggested Facebook. She was okay
with Facebook and started sharing her daily journey with people she had never
met. Her Facebook fans become like
family to her as they sent daily notes of encouragement and prayers. Jessie felt very alone and physically limited
during her fight so her fans made her feel loved.
5.
You did not fully share the extent of Jessie’s
illness to your other two children. Do you think this was the right move? Why?
Every parent has to make decisions that they feel
are best for their children. Stacey and
I felt it was best to hold on to the fact God could heal Jessie at
anytime. In addition, we wanted everyone
living with “hope”, which is a very powerful thing in life no matter what
age. Was it the right move? After
talking with Shaya and JT afterwards they were both thankful they didn’t live
with this dark cloud over their lives each day.
They did an amazing job loving their sister and being there for
her. Looking back, we wouldn’t have
changed a thing.
6.
How did your kids handle their grief? What advice
do you have for parents who are dealing with a tragedy?
Grief is a powerful emotion that everyone processes
differently. Some get quiet and some get loud.
Our job as parents were to simply walk with them through their grief and
let them know we were there for them no matter what. My only tip for parents is don’t hide your
pain from your kids. Let them know you
are hurting too and together with God’s help you will all heal.
7. 7. Jessie had a strong faith in God. How did she draw
strength from her relationship with God during her treatment?
Jessie did
have an amazing faith in God which inspires me daily. She would pray for herself, listen to worship
music during treatments and do her nightly devotions with her mommy. She drew her strength from Phil. 4:13 and
asked God daily for support.
8. Many of
your friends and family members walked along side of you during this difficult
process. How did this help?
Jessie was blessed to be part of a great school,
church and swim team which provided her and our family wonderful emotional,
spiritual and practical support. After
Jessie moved to Heaven, we didn’t have to cook a meal for four months.
9.
Unfortunately, cancer strikes 1 in 300 children
before the age of 20. What advice do you have for others who want to help a
family with a child fighting cancer?
In the
book I list all sorts of simple ways to help families with children fighting
cancer. Families need help but don’t
want to have to add “managing” the help to their already chaotic lives. The best thing to do if you really know the
person is show up and do something.
Don’t ask, “how can I help you?”
Just help.
10.
Over 80,000 JoyJars have been distributed
internationally. How have you accomplished so much in such a small time frame?
We are actually nearing 100,000 JoyJars in all 50
states and 28 countries. We just
received a request from Lima, Peru.
Social media has been the best channel of communication for us. Jessie simply just started at Children’s
Hospital of Orange County and it grew week by week. We now partner with over
275 children’s hospitals and 175 Ronald McDonald Houses.
11.
How did your experiences with Jessie’s illness
strengthen or challenge your faith? During
Jessie’s fight it strengthened my faith as I depended on God to give me the
wisdom, strength and peace to walk with Jessie and the family. I truly thought He would heal her
physically. Unfortunately, God choose
Heaven as a means of healing which challenged my trust in Him for months. Now, Heaven has never been more real to me
and I can’t wait to spend time in eternity with Jessie and my Heavenly Father.
12. Do you
have advice for other Christians who may be questioning God’s plan?
I don’t know if I would call it “advice” but I
would let them know they are not alone in their feelings. I questioned God many
times and still do. I don’t question His
love for me or Jessie. I questioned His
choice in using Heaven as a healing agent.
But now that time has past, I see
His plan. Jessie was an Angel sent to
Earth with a message (Never Ever Give Up) and a mission (childhood
cancer). How else can you explain how
one twelve year old girl, fighting cancer, choose to give to other kids and started
a global movement of compassion that has raised millions of dollars to “care”
for children/families fighting cancer around the world. My only answer is, God had a plan!
In addition, I would encourage them to realize
God’s plans don’t always match up to our own plans but He is still a loving and
caring God. Faith in God is all about
“believing” in our hearts and heads that God loves us no matter what and when
we fully depend on Him, He will show us the way.
13. Tell us
more about the Jessie Rees Foundation. September is National Childhood Cancer
Awareness month. How can we help?
The Jessie Rees Foundation is a global childhood
cancer charity dedicated to ensuring every child fighting cancer has the
support and resources to Never Ever Give Up.
We fulfill our mission by 1) encouraging courageous kids to NEGU, 2)
assisting courageous families to NEGU, 3) rallying communities to NEGU for
courageous kids, 4) mobilize athletes to NEGU for courageous kids and 5)
inspire the world to NEGU for courageous kids.
Each year in the US, the month of September is
dedicated to “childhood cancer awareness”.
If you have a social media platform, please join our Going Gold campaign
and help raise awareness of this devastating disease.
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