Spotlight On Chris Cloutier, Volunteer Appreciation Week 2021

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One of the most terrifying things for us last year during the whole COVID-19 ordeal was how in the heck are we going to raise the funds our mission requires without the ability to gather our supporters in person? Everyone is saying do it virtually but how in the heck do you that?! Enter Chris Cloutier. He demystified it. He simplified it. And then he showed up over and over again, campaign after campaign. Chris played an enormous role in making 2020 our most successful storytelling year ever! Him donating his time and talent to our fundraising efforts meant that 100% of the proceeds went directly to our mission. And then he signed up to play the same role again in 2021! We are grateful for your support Chris and we quite literally could not do it without you!
-Kyle Woody, Founder & Executive Director-

Chris, Why Do You Volunteer For Jack's?

I was introduced to Jack’s by Rich Anderson, who is a co-owner and CEO here at Imagine IT – and he is a Jack himself. I was working on some digital production efforts at our company and he asked if I could help produce something for Jack’s. I was pretty excited to try out the new streaming platform and editing tools I was working with.  
 
After being introduced to the Jack’s organization, meeting the genuine and talented folks behind the scenes as well as the incredible caregivers and hearing their powerful stories, I could not help but be moved by it all.
 
Short story ahead. At a young age and in the early days of the Internet (yes, I am an elder millennial) – I met a girl in an online chat who was fighting childhood leukemia. She was hospitalized at the time and we chatted every day we possibly could throughout her treatment. We didn’t just talk about cancer, we talked about music and movies and “normal” stuff that kids talk about. There were good days and bad. She had friends at the hospital, but some sadly would not win their battle. I was her one constant and I did not know it at the time, but would find out later that her family believes those daily connections with me gave her some of the strength she needed to overcome her diagnosis. She eventually underwent a bone marrow transplant and is still alive and thriving today.
 
For many years I cared for my mother who suffered severe bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, COPD and diabetes. My father suffered from dementia, tremors, anxiety and heart problems. I lost my dad in 2015 and my mom in 2016 – and since then I have thought about the ways their loving spirit and generous nature could live on – and how I could contribute to the “greater good” in some way, through volunteering or other means.
 
I am thankful for the great guys (and gals) that are a part of Jack’s Caregiver Coalition, and I hope as the world returns to some version of “normal” – we can all get together again!
-Chris Cloutier-