A spontaneous emotion? A lifelong mindset? Maybe both? What compels us to count our blessings and to give thanks? Here at Cleveland Clinic, we love sharing stories about people whose generosity makes a difference for the greater good. We also love sharing stories about people who are the beneficiaries of that generosity. These two sets of people rarely have an opportunity to meet, however, let alone to share their stories with each other, face to face. Until now. Enter The Gratitude Sessions.
Among those working to keep our communities healthy, there is no small giving.
Episode 1
On the frontlines of the pandemic, reasons to be thankful abound.
Episode 3
We’re all in this together when it comes to gratitude.
Episode 2
An unprecedented brain study inspires support in different forms — and gratefulness.
Episode 6
Lifesaving cardiovascular research comes from paying it forward.
Episode 5
A grassroots campaign leads to new hope for patients with breast cancer.
Episode 4
Cancer knows no age limits. Fortunately, neither does generosity.
Episode 8
Heart transplants lead to grateful hearts.
Episode 7
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Share YOUR story
We want to hear your story. Why are you grateful? Let us know!
Take me BEHIND-THE-SCENES
Presented by Cleveland Clinic
Share all the Gratitude Sessions:
Trina Bediako is CEO of a baking company owned by her family. Community health programs benefit from her generosity. Cheryl Williams is a retired pharmaceutical sales representative. A breast cancer survivor, she promotes cancer screenings in the community.
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Trina and Cheryl
Matt and Megan
Bill and Paul
Laura, Leigh Anne and Jennifer
Rustom, Mary and Milind
Grayson and Madelyn
Jan and Valerie
Sandy, Melissa and Teresa
9500 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio 44195 | 800.223.2273 © 2023 Cleveland Clinic. All Rights Reserved.
Keep the Going
Matt Litzler supports multiple sclerosis research as well as the VeloSano cancer research initiative. He is president and CEO of a manufacturing company. Meghan DeBenedictis is a genetic counselor. She was diagnosed with MS more than 20 years ago.
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Bill Summers stepped up to support the COVID-19 Emergency Response Fund. Prior to his retirement, he was chairman and CEO of an investment banking and securities firm. Paul Lamiell, MSN, RN, CCRN, is a clinical nursing director. During the pandemic, he was one of the nurse managers for the Medical ICU.
Laura Frank and Leigh Anne Best are the founders of Brakes for Breasts. Their grassroots campaign has rallied independent auto-repair shops to raise critical funding to develop a vaccine aimed at preventing triple-negative breast cancer. Jennifer Davis is a registered nurse. She was the first person to participate in a novel study for the breast cancer vaccine.
Mary and Rustom Khouri, DPM, MD, have been married 42 years. They run a real estate development company. The couple made a generous gift to support cardiovascular research. Milind Desai, MD, is a cardiologist who holds the Haslam Family Endowed Chair in Cardiovascular Medicine. His research interests include computed tomography (CT) angiography for cardiovascular risk prediction.
Sandy Fox, DDS, is a retired dentist. He was the first philanthropic donor to the Cleveland Clinic Brain Study. Melissa Fox is Sandy’s daughter. Teresa Brewer is a vendor management analyst. She was the Cleveland Clinic Brain Study’s first participant.
Valerie Carpenter had a heart transplant at Cleveland Clinic. Prior to her retirement, she was a client sales executive in the information technology services industry. Jan Jones Artz is a retired broadcast journalist. A gift from her and her late husband, Shelly Artz, MD, supports research in heart disease and transplantation.
Grayson Yee is in third grade. He supports pediatric cancer research through Cleveland Clinic’s Trike & Bike initiative. Madelyn Petrulis is in 10th grade. She is in remission from Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
We want to thank the stars of “The Gratitude Sessions,” our friends from all walks of life who came from near and far to meet each other and speak their truth in front of our lights, cameras and microphones. Working on this project over the past six months, we’ve learned so much from them. We hope you will, too.
Executive Producer ............................... Lara A. Kalafatis Producer ................................................ Cindy Fink Producer ................................................ John Soeder Project Manager .................................... Chloe I. Maxwell Photographer ......................................... Lisa DeJong Photographer ......................................... Don Gerda Photography Supervisor ....................... Shawn Green Designer ................................................. Michael Gallagher Designer ................................................. Ivy Monroe Designer ................................................. Joanne Mrosko Designer ................................................. Leah Pirrung Editor ...................................................... Jacelyn Almanzar Editor ...................................................... Tom Leland Editor ...................................................... Elizabeth Misson Editor ...................................................... Jill Stefancin
Executive Producer ................................ Brian Glazen Producer ................................................. Taylor Caruso Director ................................................... Geoff Yaw Director ................................................... Julia Thorndike Director ................................................... Bob Ruggeri Director of Photography ........................ Eddie Smith Camera Operator ................................... Dan Krivenki Gaffer ..................................................... Ryan Keeper Production & Post Audio Engineer ....... Mike Carissimi Hair & Makeup Stylist .................. ......... Giovanna Keeper Editor ...................................................... Keith Potoczak Editor ...................................................... John St. Pierre Editor ...................................................... Dan Krivenki
Special thanks to Michelle Amato, Bridget Andrews, Ellen Bader, Kristie Burke, Jessica Claughton, Christina DeAngelis, Meredith Foxx, Adam Gundlah, Chelsea Knowles, Claire McBroom, Kelly Needham, Cara Nething, Mayme Patthoff, Carey Stadnick, Tiffany Vesperman and Jackie Zassick. Thank you to many marketing and communications colleagues working to promote The Gratitude Sessions, with special thanks to: Sam Arth, Jennifer Guerrieri Tadiello, Tyler Maddox, April Miller, Miles Sawyer-Hill, Lily Schwab, Sofia Vilar, Tora Vinci, the AdCom team and the Merkle team.
COMING SOON
