A Year of Connection, Resilience, and Gratitude
As I reflect on 2025, I’m filled with a deep sense of gratitude and fondness. This year marks the beginning of my role at Gilda’s Club, and I am profoundly thankful to have joined a community that fosters resilience, creativity, and connection. Each day, I witness the power of community in action – the ways our members show up for one another, the dedication of our facilitators and volunteers, and the meaningful spaces we cultivate together for healing, learning, and hope.
This year reaffirmed our mission: to ensure that no one faces cancer alone. Through every support group, workshop, educational program, and moment of shared understanding, our community demonstrated what it truly means to walk alongside one another through some of life’s most challenging moments.
2025 Program Highlights
• Expanding Support Groups:
We strengthened our core offerings – including friends and family, bereavement, peer mentoring, and community groups – ensuring that members and their loved ones continue to find support tailored to their needs.
• Creative and Healthy Lifestyles Programming:
Art therapy, improv, laughter yoga, nutrition workshops, and meditation sessions offered members new ways to process, express, and rebuild. These programs remain among our most valued resources for emotional and physical well-being.
• Education and Collaboration:
Our educational workshops connected members with experts on topics ranging from advocacy and grief to caregiving strategies and the power of storytelling. Partnerships with local hospitals, clinicians, and community organizations expanded the reach, depth, and impact of this work.
• Caregiver & Family Support:
Our friends and family and loss groups, family programs, and youth activities provided essential support for loved ones affected by cancer. Caregivers found space to share stories, stressors, and strengths; kids and teens connected during events like Trick or Treat; and families engaged in programs such as legacy plates to help navigate the complexities of cancer together.
• Increasing Access & Reducing Barriers:
With in-person and virtual programming now fully integrated, we reached members across Minnesota – including in rural communities where support can be limited – ensuring equitable access to emotional and social care.
None of these accomplishments would be possible without our extraordinary facilitators, volunteers, and community partners. Their compassion, dedication, and professionalism are the heart of what makes Gilda’s Club a safe, welcoming, and responsive place of support.
Thank you for making 2025 a year of meaningful impact and heartfelt community. I’m grateful and proud to be part of a community so deeply committed to ensuring that no one faces cancer alone.
With peace and gratitude,
Bridget Eickhoff, MA, LPCC
Program Director
612-227-2147 office | 952-767-7625 direct
10560 Wayzata Blvd., Minnetonka, MN 55305
