The Friends of Gilda’s Nova Scotia

The Friends of Gilda’s Nova Scotia is committed to developing a place to provide free, professional programs, ensuring that all people affected by cancer are empowered by knowledge, strengthened by action and sustained by community. We are a volunteer run organization based out of Halifax working to build Atlantic Canada’s first chapter of The Cancer Support Community affiliated Gilda’s Club. Gilda’s Club is a non-clinical, psychosocial and emotional support program named for comedian Gilda Radner. Gilda Radner, most famous for her work as an original cast member of NBC’s Saturday Night Live, was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 1986. In her book It’s Always Something, Gilda describes her experience with cancer, and how important finding a community to learn from and share the cancer journey with was to her. In her memory, Gilda’s Club Worldwide was established in New York City, which has helped communities all across North America benefit from psychosocial and emotional support. In 2009 Gilda’s Club Worldwide partnered with The Wellness Community, which combined the knowledge, resources, and expertise of two organizations dedicated to psychosocial oncology into one: The Cancer Support Community. The Cancer Support Community has since grown into an international leader in psychosocial service delivery and research with 59 Clubhouses and Communities established across the United States, Canada, Japan, and Israel, with partners in the Philippines, the UK, and India, as well as the Cancer Support Community’s Research and Training Institute in Philadelphia.