Arms Wide Open Childhood Cancer Foundation, with Mike Gillette!

Childhood Cancer Talk Radio Podcasts

Childhood Cancer Talk Radio was fortunate to interview the man behind the camera of The Truth 365 for our show Thursday, Jan. 7 2021. A childhood cancer advocate since 2007, Mike Gillette is an Emmy Award-winning filmmaker and photographer who also serves as Public Relations Director for the Arms Wide Open Childhood Cancer Foundation. He lives in northern Virginia with his family, and uses his talents to help give a voice to children with cancer. We get a privileged glimpse into the background of the caring person who co-founded, along with AWOCCF founder Dena Sherwood, The Truth 365 campaign. Mike is one of those rare and beloved individuals who have not themselves had a child afflicted with cancer in his own family, but was touched by the experience of witnessing a child's fight with cancer and realized, "this could be my child," that these are all of our children. He became an influential and effective childhood cancer advocate and was integral to the creation of CureFest, an annual event for the childhood cancer community on the National Mall in Washington, DC. In our conversation we discuss advocating for children during the pandemic and how the pandemic has adversely affected non-profits in their outreach, the lesser-known realities of childhood cancer, advocacy, and a little history of CureFest and tentative plans for CureFest '21 and most definitely CureFest 2022.