No Worries Now

No Worries Now

Founder(s)	Fred Scarf
Founded	2006
Location	Los Angeles, CA
Key people	Fred Scarf, Marta Belcher
Area served	United States
Focus	Programs and services to youth with life-threatening diseases
Motto	No Worries Now
Website	No Worries Now

No Worries Now, or the No Worries Now Foundation, is a (501)(c)(3) non-profit organization in the United States that provides programs and resources to teenagers facing life-threatening medical conditions, founded in 2006 by Fred Scarf. No Worries Now states on its website that it's mission is "to provide events, programs and other resources for teens battling terminal illnesses to empower them and allow them the opportunity to connect with similar individuals and grow their support system" . The organization is based in Los Angeles, CA .

History

In 2004, Fred Scarf met Shiri Gumbiner during freshmen year in high school and quickly became great friends. Shiri was diagnosed with osterosarcoma and passed away in August 2005. Fred said starting a non-profit was his way to take “the painful feelings from Shiri’s death and turned them into something beautiful. I want to continue to bring people together to find a cure for osteosarcoma, so no child, parent, or loved one will have to endure the horror of this type of cancer again.” [1] Scarf and Shiri had planned on going to their high school prom together before she passed away, serving as the inspiration for Scarf and the foundation to begin organizing annual proms, specifically for teens with terminal and life-threatening illnesses.

A month after Shiri's passing, Scarf began the initial process of creating the Shiri Foundation, later to be renamed as [No Worries Now]. The mission of the Shiri Foundation was to raise money to fund osteosarcoma research. In 2006, the Shiri Foundation was officially incorporated and granted (501)(c)(3) status in 2007.

After two years of several unsuccessful attempts to partner with companies and low grant success rate, Fred changed the direction of the Shiri Foundation and focused on creating programs that aimed to have an “immediate impact on the lives of patients.” Fred created two programs. [2]

· 2007: The Santa Program, involved Santa visiting patients at the hospital and giving toys to teen patients. The inspiration for the program came from times Scarf and his family spent with Shiri and her family in the hospital. The program was discontinued after its first year at City of Hope Hospital in Duarte California.

· 2007: Shiri Prom, which was a prom for teens with cancer had an immediate success. It has now become the No Worries Now Prom. The inspiration came from Scarf and Shiri planning to go to Prom together. [3] [4]. The success of the first prom led to Scarf and the board of the directors changing the mission in 2008 to focusing on organizing proms and suspending efforts to raise funds for osteosarcoma research.

In 2009, the Shiri Foundation aimed to be renamed “No Worries Now” by 2010. To ensure a smooth transition, the foundation in 2009 was referred to as the Shiri Foundation/No Worries Now.

In 2010, the Shiri Foundation was officially renamed “No Worries Now.”

Now Proms

Now Proms are for teens who have survived or have a life-threatening illness, and give them the opportunity to attend prom. To date, No Worries Now has given over 1,000 attendees the chance to attend prom.

In 2007, No Worries Now organized its first prom at the Renaissance Hotel in [Hollywood], CA.

In 2008, No Worries Now continued their effort and did their second Now Prom at the California Science Center in Los Angeles, CA.

In 2009, No Worries Now arranged a prom at the Regency Center in San Francisco, CA.

In 2010, No Worries Now organized a prom at Sony Studios in Culver City, CA.

In 2011, No Worries Now made the prom at Madame Tussaud's in Hollywood, CA.

Prom-in-a-Box

In 2010, No Worries Now received international and national media, which led to people from around the world to request No Worries Now Proms in their cities. [5][6]. No Worries Now began to develop Prom-in-a-Box, a program that gives people the opportunity and support to organize their own proms in their own cities. [7][8] No Worries Now aims to have the first Prom-in-a-Boxes in Spring 2012.

Shirts

In 2006, Scarf was unsuccessful at raising enough money for osteosarcoma research. After only securing one grant and not securing any corporate sponsors, Scarf printed shirts that read “I’m fighting bone cancer by wearing this shirt.” The shirts raised over $9,000. [9]

In 2011, No Worries Now began printing shirts that read “Ask me what my shirt did" on the front and on the side "Each shirt pays for one teen’s ticket to attend a Now Prom. No Worries Now organizes proms for teens with life-threatening illnesses who may not live long enough to attend prom.” [10] [11]

References

• http://www.noworriesnow.org/our_story.html
• http://www.noworriesnow.org/what_we_do.html
• http://www.layouth.com/a-cause-close-to-my-heart/
• http://www.layouth.com/ill-never-forget-shiri/
• http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?section=news/local/los_angeles&id=8223002
• http://marcoontheweb.blogspot.com/2008/06/night-at-prom.html
• http://www.cnn.com/2010/LIVING/06/24/cnnheroes.scarf/index.html
• http://www.noworriesnow.org/past_proms.html
• http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/27/huffpost-greatest-person-marta-belcher-no-worries-now_n_885595.html
• http://cnn.com/video/?/video/living/2010/06/24/cnnheroes.scarf.extra.cnn
• http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/video?id=8223003]