It was a fond farewell, albeit with mixed emotions, as the Tri-Valley community commemorated the 15-year run of the Sandra J. Wing Healing Therapies Foundation.
Completing the arc I wrote about last October, the nonprofit organization has now formally dissolved after the retirement of its namesake founder. The board opted it was best to close their doors rather than find a “replacement” for Wing, and with that decision made quietly nearly three years ago the charity switched its focus to winding down operations and issuing as many grants to patients as possible before its end.
The final months of work also included identifying a peer in the area to receive its remaining assets. That was the one piece of news announced at the goodbye dinner hosted by the foundation at the Palm Event Center in the Vineyard in Pleasanton, which my wife and I attended on Jan. 18.
Wing proudly revealed that the last $65,000 was being presented that night to Culinary Angels, another grassroots nonprofit committed to supporting cancer patients in the Tri-Valley.
“We make the promise and the pledge to be amazing stewards and to always honor Sandra’s legacy,” Culinary Angels founder and Executive Director Lisa McNaney told us in the audience.
Like Wing, McNaney’s personal experience with cancer motivated her to create a nonprofit to help others going through the same type of battle – her Culinary Angels provides nutritious meals to cancer patients (and their caregivers), whereas Wing’s foundation focused on complementary therapies for patients amid their medical treatments.
“It really takes an incredible amount of funding, of dedication, of fortitude, to be able to take something, an idea, a vision, and turn it into something that actually has meaningful impact. And I think that is part of what it has been about for you, 100%,” McNaney said speaking to Wing from the stage.
“And when you told me that you were passing this on, my heart was so sad because I couldn’t imagine how that must feel for you,” McNaney added. “But she’s turned it into a celebration with lifelong friends and supporters.”
I can attest it certainly was a little different vibe that night than the usually upbeat events Wing and her foundation came to be known for over the years – and that was totally OK in my eyes.
It should have felt different because it was different; everyone was saying goodbye to what they’d poured their hearts into with such inspirational results. To use Wing’s own word during her closing speech as CEO and president: bittersweet.
“We have a lot to be proud of” echoed over applause during Wing’s remarks as she listed out the accomplishments of the grassroots nonprofit she created from the ground up with the support of people in that room to support so many others (including some in that room).
“Cancer is expensive, and we were able to provide therapies to cancer patients that would have out-of-pocket, an added cost to their already hefty expenses,” Wing said. “We provided wellness therapies that offered relief from the toxic side effects from chemo and radiation. And we received many, many heartfelt messages from our beneficiaries describing the impact that we had on their lives and in their families lives.”
“We heard that healing meant going from feeling stuck to feeling empowered, going from feeling anxious and tense to feeling relaxed and grounded, even if it was just for that session of acupuncture or meditation,” she added. “It meant going from feeling drained and exhausted to feeling energetic and refreshed, and going from being poked and cut to feeling the caring human touch.”
Wing’s foundation granted more than $1.1 million to cancer patients. Around 2,300 grants in all. Nearly 16,000 sessions of healing therapies.
The organization grew from 12 grants in the first year (one per month) up to a peak of two grants per day (60 per month), Wing said, beaming.
In its final years, the foundation expanded from just focusing on residents in the Tri-Valley communities to all of Alameda and Contra Costa counties in a push to grant all of its remaining funds.
I hope you enjoy retirement, Sandra. You have a lot to be proud of.
Editor’s note: Jeremy Walsh is the editorial director for the Embarcadero Media Foundation’s East Bay Division. His “What a Week” column is a recurring feature in the Pleasanton Weekly.
