Goodbye Kraftur!

In April I finished my tenure as chairwoman of Kraftur- Stuðningsfélag fyrir ungt fólk sem greinst hefur með krabbamein og aðstandendur. I am proud of what we accomplished over these two years — a period of renewal for the organization, with new leadership and new colleagues joining the team.

Together we increased funding in our current grants and started three new ones: an education grant, an immediate emergency fund the manager can draw on when something acute comes up, and a fertility fund. We created a Make-A-Wish channel for moments that mattered more than budgets and negotiated with a law firm that had connections to Kraftur to support our members.
We also continued our events — the Easter bingo, summer fest, the “Life is Now” festival, and our Christmas events — and did much more with smaller events for Girl-Kraftur, Boy-Kraftur and Support-Kraftur. We also ran two big awareness campaigns, one of which won Silfur Lúðurinn last year for the campaign “I have a little shadow”.

What I take with me is simpler than the list. Two years of evidence that a small organisation, well led, with the right people willing to show up, can hold a remarkable amount of weight for the people who need it most.

To the board, the staff, the volunteers, and the families who let us walk part of the road with them — thank you.

To the new board: I wish you all the luck.