Jack & Jill Late Stage Cancer Foundation Celebrates 20 Years of "Treating the Families; Not the Cancer"

For two decades, JAJF has given families facing a young parent's late-stage cancer diagnosis something invaluable: time together, unforgettable experiences and memories that last forever.

ATLANTA, Sept. 29, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- The Jack & Jill Late Stage Cancer Foundation (JAJF) marks its 20th anniversary this year, celebrating two decades of a simple but powerful mission: treating families to WOW! Experiences® that give children who will lose their mother or father to cancer a timeout to create indispensable memories together—while they can.

Founded in 2006 by Jon Albert in honor of his wife, Jill, JAJF was born out of personal tragedy. When Jill was diagnosed with Stage IV metastatic breast cancer, she and Jon quickly realized the disease wasn't just attacking her body; it was upending their entire family, including their two young children, Jake and Jamie. The Alberts decided that alongside treating Jill's cancer, they needed to treat their family—and for them, that meant making priceless memories together. That realization became the inspiration for JAJF's signature WOW! Experiences, which give other families the same opportunity for meaningful time together while they can. Jill passed away a week before Thanksgiving in 2006, just two weeks after the organization's launch. The foundation she inspired has gone on to provide WOW! Experiences to thousands of children and their parents nationwide.

Jon Albert described the organization's story and mission, saying, "Twenty years ago, JAJF began with one very personal realization: when a parent has late-stage cancer, the entire family is affected. We couldn't change what was happening to Jill, but we could make sure our family had time together that cancer couldn't take away. Every WOW! Experience we create today is rooted in that same belief—that while we may not be able to treat the cancer, we can treat the family and give them cherished memories that will last far beyond the trip itself."

A Prescription Unlike Any Other

JAJF has championed and advanced the approach of Family-Centric Cancer Care. Following a formal prescription from their oncologist, JAJF plans a custom, all-expenses-covered trip for families who have a parent with a terminal cancer diagnosis and at least one child under the age of 18. Over the past 20 years, this approach has been embraced and praised by the national oncology community, with oncologists across the country prescribing WOW! Experiences as a formal part of a patient's treatment protocol—recognizing while medicine treats the disease, positive, fun memories treat the family. For oncologists to prescribe JAJF as part of treatment is truly extraordinary.

Dr. Vandana Abramson, an oncologist at the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center and member of JAJF's Medical Board of Advisors, spoke to the value of prescribing WOW! Experiences to patients and their families: "As oncologists, so much of our attention is necessarily focused on treating the cancer. But a late-stage cancer diagnosis affects far more than the patient—it changes life for the entire family. Medicine can do many extraordinary things, but there are needs it cannot meet. Prescribing a WOW! Experience gives us a meaningful way to care for the family as a whole, creating space for joy, connection and the chance for a family to simply be a family, rather than a family living with cancer."

The Lasting Impact of WOW!

The impact of a WOW! Experience doesn't end when the trip does. For a few precious days, families step away from appointments, treatments and the constant management, stress and sadness of illness to simply be together. What remains afterward are the memories—moments of laughing together and living life as a family again. For children in particular, those cancer-free memories become a lasting inheritance and a source of comfort and coping long after their loss.

Holly Hernandez, mom and patient, described the impact that her family's WOW! Experience has had, saying, "JAJF gave our family something far greater than a trip. It gave us time together—to laugh, to breathe, to be present, and to make memories that we will carry with us long after our footprints in the sand have disappeared. In a season of our lives that can so often be measured in appointments, treatments and uncertainty, JAJF gave us the opportunity to simply be a family."

Two Decades of Community and Recognition

JAJF's work has earned national recognition over the years, including Jon Albert's selection as a 2018 CNN Hero and JAJF's continued four-star rating from Charity Navigator, its highest distinction, every year since 2020. The organization has also received recognition from national outlets such as the Wall Street Journal, the TODAY Show, USA TODAY and CNN, where Dr. Sanjay Gupta has spoken publicly about the importance of "prescribing" JAJF and the medicinal value for families confronting terminal illness.

JAJF is supported by tremendous and compassionate in-kind WOW! Partner organizations, who provide everything from attraction and sporting tickets to lodging, transportation and dining for families. These include global brands like Marriott, Four Seasons, Hyatt, TRAVEL + LEISURE, American Airlines, Hertz, the NFL, the NBA and Universal Studios, as well as destination marketing organizations like Visit Orlando, Visit Texas, Visit NYC, Visit Seattle and Visit Yosemite. JAJF's "business model" is based on how many ways families can create treasured, vital memories (while they can) and how many remarkable, compassionate partners there are to help provide the WOW!

Looking Ahead

As it celebrates its 20th anniversary, JAJF's mission remains as urgent as ever. The foundation continues to expand its reach to families nationwide, working with an ever-growing coalition of oncologists, hospitals, corporate partners and individual donors who share its belief the best part of memories is making them.

Family after family, JAJF is giving the gift of precious time and lasting, positive memories for the children. "Cancer does not stop; nor will JAJF," the foundation says of its next chapter, one that will continue to give families facing the unimaginable something medicine alone can't provide.

About the Jack & Jill Late Stage Cancer Foundation

Founded in 2006, the Jack & Jill Late Stage Cancer Foundation is a national 501(c)(3) public charity that treats families facing a young parent's late-stage cancer diagnosis to WOW! Experiences®—oncologist-prescribed timeouts from cancer that allow families to travel and create treasured memories together. Following a prescription from an oncologist, JAJF arranges custom trips for families with a terminally ill parent from driveway to driveway. JAJF continues, year after year, to maintain a four-star rating from Charity Navigator, its highest distinction. Learn more at www.JAJF.org.

Media Contact: 

Erin Marvin, Vice President of Communications, Miles Partnership
[email protected]

Connect with JAJF: 

Website: www.JAJF.org 
Facebook: facebook.com/JAJForg
YouTube: youtube.com/user/JAJForg
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/jack-&-jill-late-stage-cancer-foundation
X: https://x.com/JAJForg 

SOURCE Jack & Jill Late Stage Cancer Foundation