Love Always, Mom
Tax deductible
September 2019 UPDATE: We are looking to raise $20,000 to finish out 2019 and make it possible to donate to metastatic breast cancer research and a family-building grant. These donations also help us finish out our 2019 screening run that will take us from Los Angeles, through Pittsburgh, Charleston, and back to my hometown of Millburn, NJ, with a stop for patient advocacy work in Washington, D.C. We will also continue community screenings in 2020 partnering with like-minded organizations and sponsors. If you want to catch the film in 2019- here are the screenings we have thus far and how to get your seat!
Saturday, October 5th LOS ANGELES - Echo Park Film Center
Tuesday, October 9th PITTSBURGH - 25 Carrick Avenue
Saturday, October 12th CHARLESTON - Charleston Music Hall
*Tuesday, October 15th MILLBURN, NJ - Bow Tie Cinemas - for this Millburn screening please note that there is a suggested donation of $25 to attend the screening which starts 10:30 AM at Bow Tie Cinemas on Millburn Avenue and a $75 suggested donation to attend the post-screening lunch at Basilico on Millburn Avenue which begins at 12:30 PM. If you have already seen the film, feel free to join us for the lunch only! Your donation can be made through this GoFundMe campaign or via check made payable to The Cyan Gray Hope Foundation and mailed to Arlene Gonnella, 2 Bishops Lane, Short Hills, NJ, 07078.
In 2015 we started our journey to build our family after battling and living with stage 4 breast cancer for 2 years. We chose to film that journey as a resource for others and as a tool to raise awareness and funding for metastatic breast cancer. Today, we not only have our son, Grayson who is almost 3 years old, but we premiered our "second child," the feature documentary LOVE ALWAYS, MOM, directed by Tricia Russo and Craig Shapiro which premiered at The Bentonville Film Festival in May 2018 and took home the Best Documentary Audience Award! Since that premiere screening, we went on to win Best Documentary Awards at The Catalina Film Festival, The Maryland International Film Festival and Nevada Women's Film Festival, as well as the Audience Choice Award at the Dubuque International Film Festival. Additionally we were official selections of the DTLA Film Festival and the Silicon Valley International Film Festival. The film is resonating with audiences and achieving its goal of igniting a dialogue around metastatic breast cancer and infertility issues. Our most recent community screening with the Alliance for Fertility Preservation (AFP) brought us to UCSF in San Francisco and a conversation was moderated by Joyce Reinecke (of AFP) and included panelists such as Mitch Rosen, MD (Director, UCSF Fertility Preservation Program) and Jo Chien, MD (UCSF oncologist).
“With startling intimacy…Russo makes a vivid understated onscreen heroine as she takes viewers through her intense journey over several years.” - The Hollywood Reporter
“Every aspect of ‘Love Always, Mom’ is a breath of hope." - Film Inquiry
“…Skillfully made, never flinching away from uncomfortable moments, but also celebrating life and all it has to offer.” - FilmThreat
“Seldom do documentaries or movies hold your attention for every single moment as they move forward, but this is definitely one of those rare ones.” - Red Carpet Crash
None of this would be possible without people like you! This film has been entirely funded by individual contributions to The Cyan Gray Hope Foundation. The goal of the film is to raise awareness for metastatic breast cancer and infertility issues and ignite a dialogue around these issues. The Cyan Gray Hope Foundation is championing a model of non-profit content creation; create content that educates and raises awareness and leverage that content to increase the amount contributed to research!
We need your help and continued support! Help us finish 2019 strong by donating through this GoFundMe, Facebook, PayPal ([email redacted]) or check. This funding will help us continue our screening run, as well donate proceeds to metastatic breast cancer research and a family-building grant. We are so thankful for your past support and hope you'll contribute again in 2019! If you've already supported us this year- thank you thank you! Please help us spread the word by liking and sharing our posts on social media (@lovealwaysmomthemovie) and if you are interested in other opportunities to get involved, create your own Facebook fundraiser benefiting The Cyan Gray Hope Foundation and/or find out how to host a screening in your community!
Endless gratitude!
Always,
Tricia Gonnella Russo
P.S. Check out our trailer!
What is Metastatic Breast Cancer: Metastatic breast cancer or advance stage breast cancer or Stage 4 is when the cancer spreads from the breast to another organ or tissue. According to statistics the mean survival with metastatic breast cancer is 4 years. When we started filming, I had a 22% chance of being alive today. There is only a 10% chance that I'll reach my 10 year cancerversary in 3 years. I'm enjoying motherhood and want to be here for as long as I possibly can to see my son grow. Over the past 5 years I have met and watched countless survivors lose their lives to metastatic breast cancer. Due to the over abundance of pink in October, there is a false sense that research for a cure for breast cancer is sufficiently funded yet approximately 30% of early stage survivors will have their cancer spread in their lifetimes and approximately 40,000 lose their lives in America annually to breast cancer, and this statistic has not changed in years. This is because only 7% of breast cancer funding goes to research for metastatic breast cancer which is incurable. The only way to change these statistics is with more funding for research for metastatic breast cancer.
Everywhere we screen we're raising our Voice for metastatic breast cancer and infertility issues. Next up the Catalina Film Festival and DTLA Film Festival! You can stay tuned for all info on these and future screenings by following @lovealwaysmomthemovie on Facebook and Instagram!
Craig, Trish, & Bentonville Film Festival Co-Founder, Geena Davis after winning the Audience Award- Documentary Film Award. INCLUDE!
I'll steal a line that my surrogate spoke in our film, "I won't be famous. I won't be a doctor or a lawyer, but I want to make a difference." Our surrogate felt the way that should could make a difference in the world was by helping us have our son. The way we could contribute to the world was making this movie and donating the proceeds. Please help us continue our efforts to raise at least $20,000 to help achieve our goals.
Saturday, October 5th LOS ANGELES - Echo Park Film Center
Tuesday, October 9th PITTSBURGH - 25 Carrick Avenue
Saturday, October 12th CHARLESTON - Charleston Music Hall
*Tuesday, October 15th MILLBURN, NJ - Bow Tie Cinemas - for this Millburn screening please note that there is a suggested donation of $25 to attend the screening which starts 10:30 AM at Bow Tie Cinemas on Millburn Avenue and a $75 suggested donation to attend the post-screening lunch at Basilico on Millburn Avenue which begins at 12:30 PM. If you have already seen the film, feel free to join us for the lunch only! Your donation can be made through this GoFundMe campaign or via check made payable to The Cyan Gray Hope Foundation and mailed to Arlene Gonnella, 2 Bishops Lane, Short Hills, NJ, 07078.
In 2015 we started our journey to build our family after battling and living with stage 4 breast cancer for 2 years. We chose to film that journey as a resource for others and as a tool to raise awareness and funding for metastatic breast cancer. Today, we not only have our son, Grayson who is almost 3 years old, but we premiered our "second child," the feature documentary LOVE ALWAYS, MOM, directed by Tricia Russo and Craig Shapiro which premiered at The Bentonville Film Festival in May 2018 and took home the Best Documentary Audience Award! Since that premiere screening, we went on to win Best Documentary Awards at The Catalina Film Festival, The Maryland International Film Festival and Nevada Women's Film Festival, as well as the Audience Choice Award at the Dubuque International Film Festival. Additionally we were official selections of the DTLA Film Festival and the Silicon Valley International Film Festival. The film is resonating with audiences and achieving its goal of igniting a dialogue around metastatic breast cancer and infertility issues. Our most recent community screening with the Alliance for Fertility Preservation (AFP) brought us to UCSF in San Francisco and a conversation was moderated by Joyce Reinecke (of AFP) and included panelists such as Mitch Rosen, MD (Director, UCSF Fertility Preservation Program) and Jo Chien, MD (UCSF oncologist).
“With startling intimacy…Russo makes a vivid understated onscreen heroine as she takes viewers through her intense journey over several years.” - The Hollywood Reporter
“Every aspect of ‘Love Always, Mom’ is a breath of hope." - Film Inquiry
“…Skillfully made, never flinching away from uncomfortable moments, but also celebrating life and all it has to offer.” - FilmThreat
“Seldom do documentaries or movies hold your attention for every single moment as they move forward, but this is definitely one of those rare ones.” - Red Carpet Crash
None of this would be possible without people like you! This film has been entirely funded by individual contributions to The Cyan Gray Hope Foundation. The goal of the film is to raise awareness for metastatic breast cancer and infertility issues and ignite a dialogue around these issues. The Cyan Gray Hope Foundation is championing a model of non-profit content creation; create content that educates and raises awareness and leverage that content to increase the amount contributed to research!
We need your help and continued support! Help us finish 2019 strong by donating through this GoFundMe, Facebook, PayPal ([email redacted]) or check. This funding will help us continue our screening run, as well donate proceeds to metastatic breast cancer research and a family-building grant. We are so thankful for your past support and hope you'll contribute again in 2019! If you've already supported us this year- thank you thank you! Please help us spread the word by liking and sharing our posts on social media (@lovealwaysmomthemovie) and if you are interested in other opportunities to get involved, create your own Facebook fundraiser benefiting The Cyan Gray Hope Foundation and/or find out how to host a screening in your community!
Endless gratitude!
Always,
Tricia Gonnella Russo
P.S. Check out our trailer!
What is Metastatic Breast Cancer: Metastatic breast cancer or advance stage breast cancer or Stage 4 is when the cancer spreads from the breast to another organ or tissue. According to statistics the mean survival with metastatic breast cancer is 4 years. When we started filming, I had a 22% chance of being alive today. There is only a 10% chance that I'll reach my 10 year cancerversary in 3 years. I'm enjoying motherhood and want to be here for as long as I possibly can to see my son grow. Over the past 5 years I have met and watched countless survivors lose their lives to metastatic breast cancer. Due to the over abundance of pink in October, there is a false sense that research for a cure for breast cancer is sufficiently funded yet approximately 30% of early stage survivors will have their cancer spread in their lifetimes and approximately 40,000 lose their lives in America annually to breast cancer, and this statistic has not changed in years. This is because only 7% of breast cancer funding goes to research for metastatic breast cancer which is incurable. The only way to change these statistics is with more funding for research for metastatic breast cancer.
Everywhere we screen we're raising our Voice for metastatic breast cancer and infertility issues. Next up the Catalina Film Festival and DTLA Film Festival! You can stay tuned for all info on these and future screenings by following @lovealwaysmomthemovie on Facebook and Instagram!
Craig, Trish, & Bentonville Film Festival Co-Founder, Geena Davis after winning the Audience Award- Documentary Film Award. INCLUDE!I'll steal a line that my surrogate spoke in our film, "I won't be famous. I won't be a doctor or a lawyer, but I want to make a difference." Our surrogate felt the way that should could make a difference in the world was by helping us have our son. The way we could contribute to the world was making this movie and donating the proceeds. Please help us continue our efforts to raise at least $20,000 to help achieve our goals.
Fundraising team: Team Trish (2)
Tricia Russo
Organizer
Los Angeles, CA
Cyan Gray Hope Foundation
Registered nonprofit
Donations are typically 100% tax deductible in the US.
Craig X
Team member
