Hope, home, and humanity are innately intertwined—Catherine Jameson understands this on an intimate level. As the mother of a son who defeated childhood lymphoma, her insight concerning the parallels between cancer families and current coronavirus limitations reflects the bigger picture—that is, how our individual worlds fit within the universe as a whole. Taking this in heed, her heart for others continues to touch California’s Central Valley in numerous ways.

Catherine’s volunteerism journey began shortly before she permanently moved back to California. “I have lived kind of half on the East Coast, half on the West Coast for my life,” the Massachusetts native explains. When she was a child, her parents moved the family out to Fresno. Catherine eventually left the Golden State for New York City, where she lived throughout her twenties.

“I was just about to join the Junior League of New York when I met my husband [Michael] in Fresno,” she reminisces. Catherine moved back to the Valley in 1989—the couple has been married now for 31 years. Since her initiation into The Association of Junior Leagues International (AJLI) in the Big Apple was cut short, “I joined the Junior League of Fresno here,” recalls Catherine. She volunteered briefly for a women’s organization while living in NYC. “But really, the start of my volunteerism was with Junior League.”

“The first few years, I could really go gung-ho,” says Catherine about the time before she had her twins, son Hunter and daughter Chandler, in 1993. “I was on numerous committees.” She marveled at the caliber of women in Junior League. It was there that she met Rita Gladding, among other outstanding community leaders, who became long-time friends. “It was so inspiring, and causes you to rise to a higher level,” all of which is based in training. This gave Catherine a foundation for decades of servitude. “I worked my way up,” she says, adding that she was eventually named Junior League of Fresno’s president in 2000-2001, culminating 11 years of service.

“The year I was president, I got to go to New York City,” the place where her volunteer journey began, “because it was also the 100th anniversary of The Association of Junior Leagues International.” She truly brought her presidency full circle. “Maya Angelou was one of the guest speakers, and Gloria Steinem—it was amazing! So that was kind of the coup de grâce of the whole experience—being able to go to that wonderful AJLI conference in New York City.”

On paper, that final Junior League year was obviously a landmark for Catherine. But there was much more going on behind the scenes. “Talk about a rough year,” Catherine begins. “While as president, the big, final year in Junior League, my dad got lung and liver cancer and passed away at the end of November of 2000, right around Thanksgiving,” about halfway through her presidency, which ended in June 2001. “Then Hunter was diagnosed in September with cancer,” a few months later.

Hunter’s diagnosis came out of left field. The eight-year-old “had a T-cell lymphoma that was so aggressive that it was doubling in size every 24 hours, and it was in his chest and it was crushing his aorta and his lungs,” recounts Catherine. Had she not brought him to Valley Children’s Hospital then, her son would have gone into cardiac arrest between two and 10 days later, and likely would have passed away due to a tumor the size of a grapefruit in his little chest.

“That was September 7th, which was actually my grandmother’s birthday who I was very close to and I always say she was his angel from that day, watching over him,” remembers Catherine fondly. “Days later, 9/11 happened in New York, where I had lived for almost 10 years and had tons of friends and everything there—it just felt like the world was crumbling.”

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Several treatment plans were proposed for the little boy, so the Jamesons wanted a second opinion on which one to choose before proceeding. But because of the flying restrictions that had immediately gone into effect, the family couldn’t fly Hunter anywhere to get that second opinion. Catherine was at a loss over which course of action to select—she turned to the counsel of the wonderful doctors at Valley Children’s and relied on the immense research done by numerous close friends and relatives on Hunter’s behalf.

Despite the overwhelming nature of what needed to be settled, they decided to send Hunter’s records to The University of Texas’ MD Anderson Cancer Center for review. To Catherine’s relief, the panel of doctors there recommend the same exact treatment plan that Valley Children’s was advocating. The fact that one of the top hospitals in the country said that Valley Children’s plan was what they would do was extremely encouraging to her.

Just before Catherine’s father passed in 2000, the Jamesons bought the home they still reside in. “There’s our home away from home!” exclaims Catherine. “You can literally see Valley Children’s out my backyard, across the bluffs.” Though subtle, it is a constant reminder of the blessing the hospital has been in her family’s life. “I can’t advocate enough for Valley Children’s Hospital having that kind of a facility here in the Valley. We’re just very, very blessed.”

Even after treatment, patients are very closely monitored. “Going through that experience, you really do see the faith of God in people,” Catherine says, thinking affectionately of the wonderful teachers, medical professionals, family, friends, and even unfamiliar persons who had surrounded them with unwavering support during the most difficult time of her life.

She recollects being at Valley Children’s on Halloween with Hunter, who was bummed about not being able to go out trick-or-treating with his friends, and the kindness of strangers who chose to spend their evening at the hospital, sharing treats and stories of encouragement. “I really thought to myself, ‘If we get through this, we’re going to pay this forward,’ because it meant so much to just have that daily dose of hope. Hope is everything when you are going through something like that.”

Throughout Hunter’s treatment, Catherine drew encouragement from inspiring quotes. One by Napoleon Bonaparte particularly hit home: “Courage is like love; it must have hope for nourishment.” “You’ve got to have a lot of courage going through a cancer diagnosis, really any kind of adversity in life,” imparts Catherine, “and hope is the nourishment for courage. It really makes you get through on a daily or even hourly basis—sometimes, just that little bit of hope that someone brings to you, in whatever way, is key … that’s really why we ended up calling it Hunter’s Hope International Foundation (HHIF).”

Before Hunter’s diagnosis, Catherine had no direct affiliation with Valley Children’s Hospital. The Madera location was a relatively new facility back then—her children were actually born at the old hospital off of Shields Avenue in Fresno. Besides attending fundraisers and events at the new healthcare center, she remembers going to a luncheon for the Central California Blood Center about Camp Sunshine Dreams—a program for Valley Children’s oncology patients. It was Catherine’s job to take notes and report back to the Junior League. “Who knew that just a couple of years later my son would be [there].” Though Hunter couldn’t attend the camp because of last minute complications, hearing all about it prepared Catherine, in a way, she says.

Referring to COVID-19, “There’s something that I find very interesting about today’s world and what we went through,” Catherine shares. “Everybody has to be on lockdown. People can’t go to restaurants and you can’t see your friends. That is the life of families that have a child with cancer every day! That’s nothing new! We’d have complete lockdown,” she recalls. “We couldn’t see people. I find it amazing how everybody is complaining … go to Valley Children’s and see the countless kids that can’t do any of this stuff for years!” Catherine says.

For years, their lives had been focused around getting Hunter well—when he was on the up-and-up, it was time to pay it forward. Catherine’s first entrée back into volunteerism was with the Central Valley Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, a partner affiliated with Valley Children’s, who had reached out to the Jamesons. For the next few years, she and her family actively participated with them, raising awareness and encouraging involvement. Catherine has even chaired the committee for the Man & Woman of the Year campaign for two years.

Yet, at the same time, little by little, they were becoming more involved with Valley Children’s directly, taking treats to the hospital on Halloween and delivering gifts to inpatient children during the holiday season. “Hunter wanted to reach out to other kids,” she says, adding that he wanted to be an inspiration to them. So, in 2013, Hunter’s Hope International Foundation was established, with Hunter as president and Catherine the CFO, while her husband Michael and close friend Rita Gladding served as the founding board members.

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The mission of HHIF has been “to bring ‘hope & help’ to pediatric oncology patients and their families by providing grants to improve and enhance their quality of life while undergoing cancer treatment, chemotherapy and recovery” since its founding. “Hope comes in many forms, and it can be for a minute or a year, but it’s so important to do as much as possible,” Catherine professes. “The poverty that we’ve seen … it’s really been an eye-opener about the needs in our community,” she adds.

“This is what we need to do … there’s nothing greater to me than seeing the look on somebody’s face, of bringing that hope and help, because I’ve been there—I know what it feels like.” Because of COVID-19, it is now more difficult to have contact with the families that HHIF supports, but that doesn’t stop Catherine from finding a way to reach them, even at a distance. Over 160 grants have been bequeathed through HHIF and Catherine has managed to continue surpassing that landmark number, even while current social distancing restrictions are in place. “We’re not huge, but we have never had to turn down an application,” for assistance. After seven years of dedicated service, between $90K and $100K has been raised through Hunter’s Hope International Foundation.

Countless moments of Catherine’s life seem to have foreshadowed what was to lie ahead, allowing them to come full circle. That memorable first Halloween inspired HHIF’s annual Hunter’s Hope Halloween Bash Fundraiser, which is held during their Fall Fund Drive from October through December. Hunter now lives in Washington DC, where he attends Georgetown University (for his Master’s in Applied Intelligence) and works for the United States Department of Justice, yet he still chimes in virtually for grant giftings and visits home during the holidays to support foundation events, which he actively participates in even while living on the other side of the country.

Chandler now serves as the Development Manager for California Health Sciences University, but immediately after graduating from California State University, Fresno, she was recruited by the Central Valley Leukemia & Lymphoma Society as a campaign manager—yet another full-circle moment for the Jamesons. “We were involved with them as a patient, then as a volunteer, then as a paid employee in the family!” Catherine explains. “Working with that mission just meant so much—seeing her in that role and giving it her all.” Chandler helped the Student of the Year campaigns grow to the high-grossing levels they are at now. “But it’s totally too time-intensive when you have a little child,” she says, referring to Chandler’s daughter Chloe Grace. “She is the joy of our lives!” Catherine gushes. Since Chandler went back to work, Catherine watches her six-year-old granddaughter while helping with remote kindergarten lessons.

Catherine sitting on the couch next to Christmas tree

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With the holiday season upon us, this year will, hopefully, get to be a time of renewal and reset, where we get to value our traditions a little bit differently, understand why family is so imperative, and know why having these rituals is so critical for all of us. “Just really spending time with the people you love,” Catherine reinforces. “My husband and I both have birthdays in December, so we all like doing a lot of festive things with different friends and just getting together to celebrate at that time of year,” she shares, adding that gatherings will be a bit different this year.

“Our traditions are food, food, and more food!” Catherine laughs. There’s also “the holiday baking of cookies. Of course, we go to church for Christmas Eve.” Catherine loves to officially commence the holiday season the day after Thanksgiving by going on a fun trip. “I like to kick off the holidays in a big city. I think that’s because having been in New York all those years and having lived in Massachusetts,” where the seasons are so heartily embraced. “For many years, Chandler and I would have a Christmas tea party with our friends, like a mother/daughter thing—we’ve continued that, but we do it on Valentine’s Day with Chloe now,” beams Catherine.

Nowadays, holidays largely revolve around the joy of seeing Catherine’s granddaughter enjoy Christmas traditions. “We make many different cookies,” she chuckles. Yet, the needs of Valley Children’s patients remain, even throughout the holidays—gifts and grants from Hunter’s Hope International Foundation are distributed year-round. “For many years, we’ve been running around trying to get ‘that one thing’ that one of our Hunter’s Hope kids wants!” Catherine says of their Christmas shopping. “My husband and Hunter have stood in those long lines many times, waiting.”

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Catherine has clearly planted the advocacy seed in her children. Inspired by her kind heart, tried by her son’s diagnosis, and reinforced by her family’s involvement, advocacy is an absolutely essential component of betterment—especially for childhood cancer research. “People in general need to realize your voice counts. Your vote counts. That phone call counts … what have you got to lose? All you can do is ask. If you don’t ask, you’ll never know. And there’s a lot of people out there that are willing to help!” But it starts with us as individuals, she emphasizes.

“This too shall pass. This isn’t going to go on forever. But I really think we all need to come together and do whatever we can to have it be over sooner than later,” Catherine says of 2020. “I feel hopeful about 2021 because people have been through so much this year—people that didn’t get it before are getting it now. Between sickness, finances, civil unrest, and racial turmoil—we got hit with all of it in 2020, and now it’s time to, piece by piece, try and understand and figure out how we can make it better, because it depends on all of us. A lot of people are relying on others to make the world better, when it really is within all of us to make it better.” Catherine Jameson isn’t expecting someone else to do this work—she’s getting out there and being the change she wishes to see in this world.

Managing Editor Lauren Barisic

Photographer Ellie Koleen

Hair Robert Sandoval

Makeup Emily Dudley