Sequel Makers - Firing On All Cylinders

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The Sequel Makers First Pitch Party On August 30th, 2023 (National Grief Awareness Day)

The need for Sequel Makers started at our Caregiver Klatches in 2019, when more and more we would hear from Caregivers who had lost their loved ones that they didn't feel like they belonged, that they were on the "other side". That inspired Randy Lee to accept the challenge of leading our new "Living with Loss" Klatch which began in 2020. They were all virtual as a result of COVID-19.

As a result of a summit in the summer of 2022 at Rich Anderson's house, the decision to create Sequel Makers emerged. We knew we had to raise funding for the effort to make it what we knew it had the potential to be. That became our Big GIVE campaign promise in 2022.

Patrick Triemert, our Sequel Makers Champion, facilitating our first ever official Sequel Makers gathering.

Richard Anderson, Jack's board chair and namesake of the new annual Richard Anderson Sequel Maker Award.

Today Sequel Makers has been fully developed and deployed and supports those who have transitioned from “active caregiver” to “actively grieving” through following opportunities:

1. Helping Jack's thrive - Our Jack-to-Jack program relies on Sequel Makers to coach both Sequel Makers and active Caregivers. Many Sequel Makers go on to become our most engaged and enthusiastic super volunteers supporting our coalition in ways we never imagined.
2. Helping you thrive as a Sequel Maker - Our Jack-to-Jack and Klatch programs, as well as our Playbooks have all been fine tuned to specifically address the needs of the Sequel Makers in our community. For example here's our brand new Sequel Makers Playbook.
3. Helping each other thrive as Sequel Makers - There's a beautiful informality in Firepit Fridays, Storm Chasing, and Emptying Your Boxes events. These are gatherings that Sequel Makers simply show up for, often eager to help other thrive.

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To learn more about the program please visit our Sequel Maker home page.

We're grateful to the Jack's community for supporting the development of this new programming. And as always we are eager to hear your ideas and opinions about how to improve it.

By: Jeff Myhre

Jeff is passionate about connecting people and creating partnerships. He has served adults with disabilities in the Twin Cities for the past 15 years and is excited about supporting JCC's caregivers & volunteers and growing JCC's presence in the community. As a former caregiver himself, Jeff has experience with the challenges that caregiving brings. In his free time, Jeff enjoys running around Lake Harriet, collecting vinyl, and teaching improv for persons living with cancer. Jeff lives in the southern metro with his wife, Jennifer, and his chihuahua, Sandie. ​

Jeff Myhre with Jenni Lilledahl. Jeff often talks about Jenni as a significant source of inspiration as he made his own personal sequel.