Our Mission
It is the mission of the Josh Farler Helping Hands Foundation to make a difference in the lives of members in our community with medical issues, including cancer. We seek to support patients of all ages affected by illness and the loved ones who care for them by providing financial assistance. Striving to make a positive impact on the physical and emotional state of patients seeking treatment, donations toward the Josh Farler Helping Hands Foundation go directly to patients in need.
Josh Farler
The Josh Farler Helping Hands Foundation was formed in September 2006 as a nonprofit 501(c)3 organization. The foundation was formed in the hopes that a very viable and great young man will be remembered for his personality, his courage, and his ability to make friends with all who came in contact with him.
Josh Farler was born in Bakersfield, CA on July 27,1985. His parents soon moved the family to Yerington, NV in 1988 where he spent most his years growing up. In July of 2004, Josh was diagnosed with testicular cancer at the age of 19. He had many rounds of chemotherapy and surgery, but the cancer still spread rapidly.
Josh passed away December 26, 2005 after a long and courageous battle with cancer, at the age of 20. It only seems right that since Josh always wanted to help others that we keep his wishes alive by continuing to help those in need.
Helping Hands Foundation
Through Josh Farler’s fight with cancer, his parents stayed by him the whole time, paying out of pocket for travel, housing and food costs. Knowing first hand how expensive it is to live in motels and eat in restaurants for long periods of time, the Farler family could see a need in their community that was not being met.
After raising close to $13,000 from the very first benefit poker tournament for Josh, the Foundation grew fueled by a desire to help other families with travel, food, medical and lodging expenses while seeking treatment.
In the case of a life threatening illness or injury, the right treatment and cure may be hundreds of miles away. While insurance can eventually take care of most of the bills, there is a huge outlay of money up front that has to come from the families themselves. In times like these, we use all our resources but often they are not enough. We don’t think people should make a decision based on whether they can afford to get the best treatment versus the closest and least expensive. The greatest challenge is finding the best possible place for treatment and then getting there.
We have found that the greatest hardship to the family is finding transportation and lodging. Our goal is to help the family with expenses not covered by insurance and bridge that gap so the family will be able to get the best possible treatment for their loved one.
The grants made by our foundation will be to cover expenses for travel, lodging or food that must be paid up front to keep medical services going. Our main focus is for the youth of Mason Valley and Smith Valley, but we will accept all applications and award grants anywhere we can, depending on funding.