Greetings to all of Jen Sardam’s friends and colleagues, as well as her former and current "battle buddies."

My name is Kathi Ghannam. I have known Jen for more than 15 years, and I share your love and affection for her. Meeting and befriending Jennifer was among the greatest gifts I’ve ever received. 

To know her is to know what it feels like to be in the presence of warmth, integrity, and intelligence, paired with a great sense of humor. She has an immense capacity for caring.

She’s a very talented and dedicated servant of ourcountry, both as a former Soldier, and then as a member of the federal government’s corps of civilians, for nearly nine years.

At this time, I am reaching out to all of you on Jen’s behalf, as she is far too humble to do so herself.

As you may know, Jen has had back-to-back health challenges over the past several years. She’s done a yeoman’s job at staring down the various medical conditions that have arisen for her.

For instance, earlier this year, when she was learned she was having liver issues, she committed to a plant-based diet, which not only improved the liver function, she also felt MUCH better, having managed to even take off 50 pounds in the process.

Fast forward to roughly 2 weeks ago. She went to see her doctor for a routine check-up. The exam revealed lumps in her left breast.

Straightaway, she was sent for a variety of tests. Within days, she received a diagnosis – one that many are all too familiar with. Jennifer was told she has breast cancer.

Certainly, it's no surprise that the news felt like a crushing blow to Jen.

Within days of hearing the "C" word diagnosis, in her typical style, her journalistic instincts kicked in. Once she took a few deep breaths - and had a good, well-deserved cry - she immediately went into research mode to find out about her particular “brand” of cancer, to include treatment options, tips for telling young children that you are sick, etc.

As you can imagine, not too far into her fact-finding mission, she realized that if nothing else, the treatment regimens are going to be very costly.

In addition to managing that set of costs, she'll of course have the regular bills coming in...you know, little things like mortgage, car payments, utilities, etc.!

So far, I haven't mentioned the most important little one in her life - her beloved eight-year-old daughter, Roxxi.

Jen is fully committed to winning her upcoming fight with the cancer cells. She draws tremndous strength from having her sweet little Roxxi girl always at the top of her mind.

But, even with her dogged determination, Jen will have challenges to her financial world that can't be accurately quantified at this point. 

That's why I wanted to share this info with all of you in the hope that we can position her for success by getting some funds together for her soonest.

Based on preliminary research about treatment and medication costs for her form of cancer, I’ve approximated her out of pocket costs will be in the neighborhood of $10k.

Jen has concurred that this proposed funding level for a Go Fund Me account seems reasonable, with the caveat that if this fundraiser yields more than what she needs to to pay for her treatment, the remaining funds will be donated to St. Jude's Children's Hospital.