The Essential Power in Prescribing Joy and Making Memories

Oncologists prescribing beaches, Broadway, and ballgames sounds unbelievable until you hear the why. We sit down with Jon Albert, founder of the Jack & Jill Late Stage Cancer Foundation, to talk about what families actually need when late-stage cancer enters the picture: time, relief, and a chance to feel like a family again.

Jon shares the story behind the foundation, rooted in the loss of his wife Jill to breast cancer when their kids were still young. He puts words to the emotions so many families quietly carry: fear that children will forget a parent, dread of missing every milestone ahead, and guilt about leaving a spouse and kids behind. From that pain came a clear mission and a powerful framework he calls family-centric care: treating the families, not the cancer, and using joy as real support for children’s long-term coping and grief.

We get specific about what the “power of wow” looks like in practice: curated travel, live entertainment, sports, museums, and simple moments like sunsets, all delivered with a concierge-level approach that handles logistics driveway to driveway. We also unpack how the program works through partnerships with leading cancer centers, with families being prescribed to the foundation as part of care. If you work in hospitality, travel, sports, or live events, this conversation will change how you think about the experiences business and the lasting impact of a well-timed memory.

If this moved you, subscribe, share the episode with someone in the experiences world, and leave a review to help more listeners find it.

Recorded Tuesday, June 9th, 2026
Host: Damian Bazadona, CEO & Founder, Situation
Guest: Jon Albert, Founder, Jack & Jill Late Stage Cancer Foundation
Producer: Peter Yagecic, Founder, A Mind at Work Consulting

https://www.jajf.org
https://situationinteractive.com
https://amindatworkconsulting.com

Transcript

Welcome And What Jack And Jill Does

Peter Yagecic 0:04

You're listening to Fandom Unpack from Situation, the series where we unpack modern fandom with some of the brightest minds in sports and entertainment. I'm producer Peter Yagecic, and our host for today's QA is Situation CEO and founder Damien Bazadona. Our guest today is Jon Albert, founder of the Jack and Jill Late Stage Cancer Foundation, an organization devoted to supporting families facing late-stage cancer by providing meaningful shared experiences and lasting memories while they still can. Jon, we're so glad you could join us today. Damian, would love for you to get us started.

Damian Bazadona 0:36

Jon, thank you for joining us today. John and I go way back. I think what we're going to learn about during today's podcast is really how powerfully important and amazing his nonprofit actually is. And I originally had written a piece here to sort of describe a little bit of the nonprofit, and then I came across this incredible clip by Sanjay Gupta that I think beautifully sets up and frames a little bit about what we're going to talk about today .

Dr. Sanjay Gupta 1:06

I know firsthand what it's like to be the child of someone who has just been diagnosed with cancer. The uncertainty, the loss, the belief that nothing will ever be the same. But as I learned, life does not end with a diagnosis. And no one knows that better than John Albert and the Jack and Jill Late Stage Cancer Foundation. It's really amazing work, allowing children and their parents to spend valuable time together, creating experiences and memories together when their lives have been turned upside down. Particularly gratifying is that oncologists across the country are now prescribing the Jack and Jill Late Stage Cancer Foundation as part of treatment protocol. Oncologists validate the medicinal impact JAJF is having for these families, especially the children, at such a vulnerable time. Oncologists believe in the power of music and sports and beaches and sunsets and roller coasters and just fun as a positive time together as a family as part of their treatment. And I believe it as well. The best way to say this, the Jack and Jill Late Stage Cancer Foundation is about treating families, not the cancer, and making lasting memories for a family in need of a wow moment. Because the best part of memories is making them.

Damian Bazadona 2:32

And I remember vividly when I saw John on a CBS Sunday morning piece talking and showing the impact these live experiences were having on people's lives. And it's a bit of that moment where, you know, and you sort of well up watching something, I'm watching this and I'm tearing up. And it moved me really to like tears of action about like, oh my God, like there is so much we can do, our clients can do, our partners can do, our industry can do to really step in and try and support these amazing activities that John is working on. So with all that set up, I am just so happy, John, to have you here today. And I really appreciate you taking some time with us. Um I would love to start. Um, we know a little bit now about what the organization is, but can you bring us a little bit into how it came about?

Why John Started The Foundation

Jon Albert 3:21

I'm happy to. And and and Damien, Peter, thank you very much. Um, you know, I always remember uh right after the CBS Sunday morning cover story, you reaching out to me, and uh, and I appreciate that. And here we are years later. Uh, you know, we're celebrating our 20th anniversary, and you're right, uh every anniversary has a beginning. And the beginning of this story, the beginning of this journey uh is my wife uh who uh sadly passed away at a young age, 45 years old, uh from breast cancer, and our kids were nine and seven. And um, you know, the inspiration, the origin is that Jill had three primary emotions. And now that I have spoken with and met so many young families, young moms and dads, they all sh share these similar feelings, these similar emotions. And I've said for 20 plus years, Damien, that the cruelest part of late-stage cancer is the emotion. You know, you can take meds to mask the physical pain, but how do you turn your heart off at three in the morning? And so one of the emotions is fear. Fear that your children will forget you. And Jill truly was afraid that Jake and Jamie would forget her. And it's such a god-awful side effect to what's already a disgusting disease. And then and the dread of knowing you'll miss all the milestones. And just think about your nine and seven-year-old and all the future milestones that they will experience, that they will enjoy that you won't as their mom in this case. Uh, and then guilt. You're leaving behind your children, you're leaving behind your spouse. And again, whether you're a young mother or a young father, I hear these same emotions of fear and of dread and of guilt, family after family. And uh I set out to minimize that and minimize those emotions. You know, we talked the other day about a very simple word called joy. And joy is a powerful, powerful word. And simply put, we bring joy, we bring cherished memories, we bring fun times to young families while they have time, while they have a window. Uh, and the last thing I'll say on that for now is with all due respect to the national oncology community, 20 plus years ago, uh there was a term called holistic care, uh total cancer care, patient-centric. And they were trying to move into a little bit more beyond just the the gamma rays and the medicine and all that all the technical stuff. Um but no one before me and no one before our foundation said, let's give these chance, these families, a chance to be a family again. Let's take them out of cancer and give them a chance to be a family. So we've championed uh a phrase called family-centric care. Because if you're a 32-year-old mom, a 41-year-old dad, you've got young children, you're staring them in the face, and you know you've got six, eight, ten months to live, the family's involved. And that family needs to be treated as well. So we treat the families, not the cancer.

Treating Families Not The Cancer

Damian Bazadona 6:32

Talk about the kinds of experiences you focus on curating and and why.

Jon Albert 6:39

So, you know, early on as I was launching the foundation 20 years ago, uh I trademarked four mantras. Treating the families, not the cancer. The best part of memories is making them. Think about that. The best part of memories is making them. And sadly, at the end of the day, or in this case, at the end of life, memories become our greatest inheritance. And that's what it's all about. We've later uh trademarked the phrase the power of wow. So what's a wow? What's a cherished experience? Well, you just heard Dr. Sanjay Gupta say it could be sunsets, it could be music, it could be sports, it could be museums, it could be aquariums, it could be hot air balloon rides, it could be dude ranches. The without being crass, our business model is based on the fact that there are so many ways to create treasured memories. There's so many destinations out there, there's so many resorts and hotels, big cities, small cities, beach, mountains. There's so many ways to disappear, to escape, or with what we like to call a timeout to cancer, and create these cherished memories while you can.

Why Experiences Become Medicine

Damian Bazadona 7:55

So, like so many of our listeners are in the experiences business. So travel, entertainment, theater, live events, they're in the business of making memories. What have you learned about, and you see this firsthand? Like, what have you learned about why joy, laughter, and time together can be such a powerful force for good that sometimes when you're in the weeds working on the stuff, you sometimes don't see that. Like, how would you think, like what are they missing? What might they be missing and what and what they're actually selling as such a force for good?

Jon Albert 8:30

You know, virtually all of the companies that you mentioned, all of your partners, industry acquaintances, and guests, uh, we're all in the space of people interaction. We're all in the family memory business. And we've all seen and read, and and certainly I think we believe if we're in this space, that it's not about accumulating stuff. It's about accumulating experiences. You know, uh, I don't know if you said this or you, it's on your website, but unforgettable experiences that stay with us forever. Unforgettable experiences that stay with us forever. And we all seek that. Whether you're Disney or Delta, whether you're the NBA, whether you're Broadway, unforgettable experiences that stay with us forever. Uh, and that's what we do. You know, as we get older, uh a few words become more and more important, I think, to all of us. The words cherished, the words treasured, uh, the words nostalgia. And that's what we tap into. Now, in our case, the words indispensable, treasured, uh, cherished need to be for those eight, nine, ten, eleven, fifteen, eighteen-year-olds. Because they're they're not gonna grow old with their mom or dad. Their mom or dad are gonna pass away. They are prescribed to us, and and uh and and and they wouldn't be prescribed to us unless they had less than a year to live. So we take advantage of that window of opportunity to create the nostalgia for the children when they're when they're children. Uh we now in our 20th year, we hear from young, young adults, 27-year-olds, 31-year-olds, and they thank us again. They they they say something along the lines of uh, you know, my dad would have been 50 and he passed away 10 years ago. We just want to thank you again for that time that you sent us to San Francisco. Or it was 20 years, it was 15 years, it was 10 years ago that my mom passed away. And we just want to thank you again to that for that trip to New York City or to Nashville. So, you know, once you have these cherished memories, these experiences, they last with you. They l they stay in your heart. And we give every family beautiful photo books. They stay in your on your coffee table and they're there again as as treasured, indispensable time together while you have that time back with mom or dad.

Damian Bazadona 10:58

Yeah, that's powerful. I mean, I mean I mean one of the mantras we say here often is you know, we believe the world is a better place when people are doing things rather than having things. You know, if if if all of Congress want to see a performance at the Lion King, I think the world would be a better place. Yeah. Absolutely. Well said. Hey guys, Damien here. I just want to take a quick moment to say if you're enjoying this podcast right now, odds are you're in the business of selling live experiences. And if you don't know my team at the advertising agency situation, you most definitely should. Aside from just being an awesome group of human beings, they're a global team of professionals covering a brand based in sports, arts, theater, culture, museums, or any live experience that requires people coming together. Big, small, all shapes and sizes of brands. You can hit them up at the information below in the show notes.

How Families Get Referred

Peter Yagecic 11:58

Uh Peter. Yeah, we got a couple of listener questions over at fandomimpact.com. And um this first one, John, gets a little bit into the mechanics or the nuts and bolts. Um they said, I'm so inspired by the mission of John's organization. How does the foundation connect with families to determine what kind of support they can provide?

Jon Albert 12:17

So early on, we developed a coalition of cancer centers: Sloan Kettering, New York Presbyterian, MD Anderson, Vanderbilt, Emery Dew, City of Who. Sadly, that's the easy part. And think about this. For oncologists to validate the medicinal impact of beaches and sunsets, of music, of sports, of laughing and smiling is pretty extraordinary. So we don't have to ascertain how sick are you. Who wouldn't want an all-expense paid trip to and then fill in the blank, to San Diego, to Sarasota, Florida, to Nashville? Uh so we take care of every detail and every logistics, but we don't have to vet the families. Uh they're all vetted and they're all prescribed to us by these oncology institutions across the country, and uh and then we take it from there driveway to driveway. We don't want our families to lift a finger to spend a dime or worry about any details, and that's what we do.

Building Trust With Cancer Centers

Damian Bazadona 13:16

Can I to get that kind of to get the prescribe component in, that must have been hard though. Like in the very beginning, I would imagine because you were a you were a trailblazer in that space of really pushing on that. I mean, did you get pushback, or is it, or did you feel like it was reasonably smooth once you sort of and also you're an amazing messenger. I have to just say that. You were the ultimate messenger in your passion and consistency of that passion for as long as you had. But when you first started, you were just starting. Like just out of curiosity, what friction did you get?

Jon Albert 13:50

Well, thank you. Listen, on my uh headstone one day, I think it will say passion, perseverance, and patience. It's a are the key to life. And it takes all three. Listen, anytime, no matter the industry, if you're trying to introduce a new concept, a new vision, uh, a new way of thinking, uh, it takes passion, it takes perseverance, it takes patience. Uh I will say that I spent about eight months of due diligence. Uh, starting a nonprofit is no different than starting a business. You need to have a business plan, you need to be differentiated, you need to be addressing an overlooked population. And there was absolutely an overlooked population called young moms and dads who were about to leave behind their children. You know, we've all heard of make-a-wish. Make-a-wish has been around for 40, 50 years, but they're a completely different organization, uh, just a totally different business model altogether. Uh, but the niche that we fill is what about a nine-year-old who's about to lose her mom? What about a 14-year-old who's about to lose his dad? And there was no organization that asked that question before me and before us. Um, so I spent about eight months of due diligence, Damien, and uh it was very, very well received because all we're doing is adding value to their total cancer care. We're adding value to the way they treat their patients. So they loved us. But I actually went back after about eight months, and as part of my due diligence, I circled back to just about every one of these oncology centers. And I was meeting with administrative leaders at at Sloan Kettering or oncologists or social workers or nurses just to get a broad spectrum and a varied perspective. And I played devil's advocate. I said, you know, a family gets back from an incredible cruise or from the Yankee game or whatever, and and they spent, you know, four days in New York City at the at the fourth seasons, or whatever the case may be, they still are coming back to cancer. They're still coming back to a prognosis of six, eight, ten months to live. They're still coming back to the bills and the mounting expenses of going through four or five years of chemo. And they're still coming back to having to say goodbye to their children in the in the next few months. So why should I do this? Why should I invest my time and money? And to a person, Damien, they said, absolutely do this, please do this. Twenty years later, we have the evidence, we have the proof, we have the content, if you will, because we have uh, you know, it it it takes you five hours to go through our appreciation archives or our family photo gallery. So we have the joy, we have the smiles, we have the gratitude, family after family. And, you know, I'll never say we're saving lives, but are we improving the quality of life down the stretch? Are we having a lasting vital impact on children and their ability to cope with the reality of losing their mom or losing their dad? Do we play an incredible, tangible, measurable role when mom inevitably passes away or when dad passes away? And again, in coping with that, because once you have those memories, once you have those pictures, once you have that those, that joy in your heart, it stays with you. And I can tell you from my children who uh lost their uh mom 20 years ago coming up, uh, and from all the other families across the country, that joy uh is pretty important medicine uh now and also forever.

The Hidden Heroes Behind Trips

Damian Bazadona 17:24

What would you say, what was one of the biggest misconceptions about the work that you guys do and the families that you treat?

Jon Albert 17:31

Well, you know, uh it's natural for the the after the elevator pitch for most people to say, Oh, you like make-a wish. So there's a lot of comparison to make a wish. And we distance ourselves, you know, tremendously. I only have three employees. Uh the the heroes of the Jack and Jill Late Stage Cancer Foundation are the hotels, the general managers, the guest services people, the conciers, the Disneys, the Broadways, the Universals, the Six Flags, the Dude Ranches, uh, the airlines. We have thousands of what I say in air quotes, volunteers. And there's a tremendous amount of heart in this society and in this world, despite what you may see. Uh there's a lot of goodwill, there's a lot of compassion. So, you know, I knew 20 years ago that every hospitality organization, every resort, every cruise line, every baseball, football, basketball team, every theater are inundated with requests. And yet here we are 20 years in because we are a source of pride, we're a source of a spread of core, we're a source of team building for every one of these organizations who partner with us. And so, yes, it takes passion and perseverance and patience on the front end. But once they meet their families for the first time, once they host, I get the decision makers calling me, texting me, emailing me, saying, Can we host again? The Anderson family just blew us away. This was one of the greatest team building things we've ever done. So, you know, there's a lot of compassion, and we're tapping into that.

Damian Bazadona 19:08

You you can, I mean, look, I feel like the the deep care you put into each experience, and you're not like in the scale business. Like you're you put a lot of care, attention to detail that goes into each and every person that touches that relationship to sort of deliver the best value for that family and impact. And I think that's extraordinarily impressive that I that I know my own people that we know you've been connected with, I think uh deeply appreciate. Um uh Peter.

Concierge Approach To Memory Making

Peter Yagecic 19:33

Yeah, I I wanted to combine a couple of the listener questions we have and and tweak them a little bit. Um and John, I know you're a small organization and you you just came earlier today from visiting with one of your families. Um, so we appreciate the time that you're taking. Uh for families who've been touched by cancer, who maybe have so many things that they're struggling with right now that need help thinking about what that memory could even be. I imagine sometimes uh, you know, it part of your job is to talk about the importance of making space for those memories and to kind of set aside some of the fear or the bureaucracy that they're dealing with. How do can you talk a little bit about working with families to help them brainstorm what even from the choice of memories would be the best fit for them?

Jon Albert 20:24

No, it's actually a very relevant question, uh Peter. Thank you. The I I I say and I've said for two decades, you could nickname the foundation, uh, make a choice. We're not a wish or dream foundation. And here's why I say that. We get prescribed to a young family in Peoria or in, you know, Akron, Ohio, wherever they may be. And nine times out of ten, they're gonna say, oh, we really want to go to Disney World. And if you're a young mom, 37 years old, and you've got two young kids, and it's August or September or July, you don't want to go to Disney World necessarily. Uh, you know, our families have all been uh cleared for travel, but they're still late-stage cancer. They still, you know, a day or two, their energy is sapped pretty easily. So we act as a concierge to them on the front end. And I say it's not where you go, it's that you go. The real wish, the real dream for each of these young families is time, positive, fun time. You've gone two, three, four, five years of hell. You've gone two, three, four, five years of chemotherapy and radiation. Who in their right mind would say, honey, let's let's go to Hawaii, let's go to Nashville, let's go to New York for a few days. They wouldn't do it, uh, they wouldn't do it emotionally, they wouldn't do it financially, they wouldn't do it logistically. As I said, we take care of every detail. So we act as a concierge, and just like when you go to a concierge at a hotel and you want seafood or Thai food or salad or steak, we narrow down. Based on a lot of variables, the time of the year, the age of the children. But you can't unhear, I want to meet Carrie Underwood, or I want to do that. So we have certainly done meet and greets with incredible athletes and entertainers. I'm probably speaking at a school here, so maybe we don't air this, but I just uh uh we we've partnered with the NFL for years, and they just came to me and they said we want to take a family to the Super Bowl this this February. And I've never asked for Super Bowl or Tony Awards or Grammys because we haven't really needed them. You can, you know, and I pick on uh I you know we're based in Atlanta, Georgia. I pick on Atlanta, Dallas, and Houston because I'm I said who wants to go to Atlanta, Dallas, or Houston on a trip, on a, on a, on a cherished trip? But you can have an amazing time in Houston, Dallas, or Atlanta between the sports and the museums and the parks and all the different things. So, you know, we send families to Maui, and we send families to Aspen and Vale and Nashville and New York City, but you can have an amazing experience in Seattle or San Antonio or Savannah or Sarasota. So again, it's not where they go, it's that they go. Uh we curate every itinerary, as as Damien, as you mentioned briefly, we're not about churn, we're not about quantity, we're about one family at a time. We're about the Bradshaw family, the Gomez family, the O'Connor family. We treat about 125 to 130 families a year. Uh pun intended, we fly under the radar, so we're not a burden. We don't come back to the same hotel or the same partner over and over and over again. Uh so we're very diversified. But again, it goes back to where we said at the very beginning. Ultimately, we seek unforgettable experiences that stay with us forever. In our case, we've got a window. As my wife used to say, we we we all know our our destiny, but she knows her roadmap. She knew her roadmap a lot more clearly than I do. I still don't know my roadmap, and I'm about to be 65. So uh uh hopefully it's a long and winding road, but you never know. So uh we take advantage of the time while we have it.

Damian Bazadona 24:16

Hey guys, Damien here. If you're listening to this podcast, I'm gonna bet that you're probably thinking about how your team works and adapts right now in this new technology landscape. That's why the one person I always point people to is my co-host, right here, Peter Yujistic, and his company, a Mind at Work Consulting. They run smart, tech-infused workshops that help teams build new skills and actually put ideas into action. Peter is way too humble to brag, but I have no problems bragging for him. So if you're serious about what's next, talk to a Mind at Work Consulting. More in the show notes below.

How You Can Support The Mission

Damian Bazadona 24:58

For the final question, if someone from the live entertainment, travel, experiences, hospitality world is hearing this conversation right now and wondering how they can get involved with you, whether they want to offer experiences, money, donation, whatever that might be, they want to support because they're hearing this and they're saying, oh my God, we can help. Because by the way, this is the same passion I had when I first heard your story. This is what drove me to action. So someone's hearing this right now. What would you tell them on how they can get involved?

Jon Albert 25:32

Well, thank you, Damien, for that. Uh you know, sadly, as I will always start off with uh cancer research is not putting us out of business. So the foundation will be here, needs to be here in tw another 20 years from now. As we celebrate 20 years this year, we need to be here in another two decades and beyond. Um the other mantra that we haven't trademarked, but we probably should, but it's very obvious, is cancer does not discriminate. Cancer is a great equalizer. Uh the reality of cancer is that uh it it it indiscriminately strikes entertainers and athletes and all-stars and active military and veterans and senators and CEOs and, of course, average Joes. It doesn't care who you are. And for anyone listening, or one or two degrees of separation, I'll never be bashful on behalf of these children who are losing their young moms and dads at such a vulnerable time. So if I had a an agenda or an objective or a further vision moving forward, uh, it's that um I want to share to a much broader audience, your audience and beyond, uh, the message that uh of the importance of travel and creating cherished family memories for all of us, not just those flying in the face of cancer. And I say that as a as a as a pun and as a double entendre. Uh we're working with those who are flying directly in the face of cancer. But there are so many other opportunities for us all to slow down and create our own cherished family memories. And I want to give back to the hospitality industry, the travel industry, the attraction industry by broadening that message. And I want people sitting on their couch in Peoria and in Akron to say, you know, honey, why don't we take a trip to New York City? Why don't we go see a Broadway show? Why don't we go to Nashville? Why don't we do and just fill in the blanks? As we said, there are so many ways to create treasured, indispensable memories for all of us. So hopefully that's going to be how we give back to this industry that has given us so much generosity, so much goodwill, and so much compassion uh by broadening that message to a much wider audience that we're on the family memory business and uh cancer doesn't care who we are. So let's head it off at the past and let's go create some memories. The message is not, I want to say this very clearly, the message is not that the sky is falling. All right. The message is quite the contrary. Live your life. Live your life. I, you know, my my I when I eulogized my wife, she was 45, and I said, you know, she didn't live a long life, but she lived a full life. So we may we all live full lives, whether we're 40, 50, 60, 70, or 90. Um, and let's partner together, let's band together to create the power of wow for many, many, many more people, not just those that are facing late-stage cancer.

Damian Bazadona 28:51

John, thank you so much. Uh, keep up the amazing work. It's it's inspiring and impactful. And um, I really appreciate you spending time with us. You're very welcome. Uh Peter, want to take us up?

Where To Learn More

Peter Yagecic 29:04

Yeah, that's gonna do it for this episode of Fandom Unpacked. Thank you, Jon and Damian. If you were inspired by what you heard today, uh we want you to go check out the Jack and Jill Late Stage Cancer Foundation at JAJF.org. There's information there about how you can become a WoW partner. Uh, we'd also love for you to check us out at fandomunpack.com where we list all of our episodes, all of our QA's, uh, and you can follow the series in your podcast player of choice. Uh, we're going to be back in your feed in a couple of weeks for the entire Fandom Unpack team. I'm Peter Yagecic. We'll see you next time.