felicia_legacy

About the Campaign


The Gloria Borges WunderGlo Foundation’s Legacy Warrior: 
Felicia Maria Federico 
November 12, 1972 - August 17, 2014
 
The Gloria Borges WunderGlo Foundation cares deeply for every life affected by colon cancer. In honoring our “Legacy Warriors”, we pay tribute and show respect for these amazing people & their families; lives who will always be remembered. These are the incredible people who inspire us every single day to work towards “the cure”.
 
Please join the Federico and Hamrick families, and The Gloria Borges WunderGlo Foundation, as you become a part of this epic journey while raising money for The Wunder Project: http://www.thewunderproject.org/
 
For those who knew Felicia Federico, there are two qualities she had that were undeniable; her incredible strength and her ever-present sense of humor. Felicia loved to laugh. Through the trials she faced with her ailing health over the years, she always found a way to joke about her condition or the treatment she was undergoing. Felicia’s determination and perseverance were not limited to her health. From a young age, she found many talents and interests she pursued with vigor. In her childhood and early adolescence, Felicia was an accomplished ice skater and also participated in several dance classes and recitals. As she got older, a passion for animals began to emerge, as she became known for taking in anything from rats to chickens, cats and even a footless parrot. It was this passion that led Felicia to begin riding horses and competing in horse shows as a fearless jumper with her beloved thoroughbred, Bud.         
 
Upon becoming a mother to Cameron and Bailey, Felicia began to pour herself into her children's interests including martial arts.  She herself also took Karate classes and climbed the ranks, reaching a green belt. In the desire to become more involved in their lives and activities, Felicia began working at her children’s school, Phoenix Ranch. There, she also became a certified lifeguard during the school’s summer program, and spent time giving swimming lessons to the students as well as to her nephews and niece.  During her time at the camp, she developed a closer relationship with the children and became one of the most popular teachers, earning her the nickname, “Chipmunk.”  
 
As she became deeply invested in the students, and with her growing love in working with them, she made the decision to return to school. Felicia attended classes at the University of Phoenix while retaining her position as a teacher and was beaming with pride when she became the first college graduate in her family, with a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology.  With an increasing drive, she set her sights even higher and had applied to graduate school in the hopes of eventually earning a degree in social work, enabling her to help children with special needs. 
 
Perhaps one of the greatest blessings in Felicia’s life came in February 2010 when she met Mike Hamrick.  As they grew closer, Mike and Felicia discovered shared interests in music and travel, as well as a love of spending time outdoors.  They also purchased a trailer and were able to take it on many camping trips and adventures with their blended family, which includes Mike’s three children, Megan, Chase and Kaden.  Felicia happily embraced Mike’s children and family as her own and they were married on a beach in Morro Bay, California on July 26, 2014.  
 
For Felicia, family was always a priority.  In her final days, she expressed the desire to spend as much time as she could with her children, parents, siblings and nieces and nephews, even spending several days with them at Disneyland, despite her weakened condition.  When not out with family, and while resting at home, Felicia could most often be found in her favorite spot; a lawn chair in the backyard looking up at the trees with her family dogs at her side.  
 
In honor of Felicia's vibrant spirit, beautiful life, and love for others, the Federico Family is asking for donations to help fund cutting edge research dedicated to an established "Dream Team" of brilliant oncologists, scientists, and clinicians defined in The Wunder Project, the WunderGlo Foundation's capital campaign that dedicates 100% of donations straight to "research for the cure" of colon cancer. 
 
The WunderGlo Foundation
In September 2011, at the age of 29 and one year after her own Stage-4 colon cancer diagnosis, Gloria Borges, founded The WunderGlo Foundation to empower and inspire those fighting this disease, demystify the colon cancer diagnosis, and support research to eradicate it. In early 2013, she launched the foundation’s most ambitious capital campaign called The Wunder Project. http://www.thewunderproject.org/Co-Founded with Dr. Heinz-Josef Lenz, this carefully planned $250 Million dollar campaign assembles the finest minds in the medical profession: brilliant doctors, scientists, and clinicians all around the world.
 
After Gloria's passing in early January 2014, she handed the baton and the responsibility of this foundation’s goals to her mother, Becky Keller who left her career of over 30-years in commercial banking to run WunderGlo and carry on this foundation's mission, without salary compensation. Becky personally made this choice because of her strong beliefs in this organization's goals and for the fact that she wants every single dollar raised to go straight to research to help so many families in need. 
 
In 2015, The Los Angeles Business Journal named Gloria and The WunderGlo Foundation: “Philanthropist of The Year”. The Gloria Borges WunderGlo Foundation also dedicated the G.I. Oncology Lab of Dr. Heinz-Josef Lenz for the Cure of Colorectal Cancer at USC Norris Comprehensive Center. In four short years as an organization, The WunderGlo Foundation has given over $800,000 in colorectal cancer research funding, leading the charge among all other colon cancer organizations in grant funding for research for the cure. 
 
The WunderGlo Foundation grants have been given to USC-Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center and to Stanford University Medical School. The Stanford grant was directed to Dr. Christina Curtis, who's important work is focused on understanding and characterizing the genomic determinants and dynamics of metastatic colorectal cancer towards the goal of earlier detection and intervention, as well as improved treatment stratification.
 
WUNDER PROJECT RESEARCH was published in Molecular Cancer Therapeutics-October 2015: Companion Diagnostics and Cancer Biomarkers - Polymorphisms in Genes Involved in EGFR Turnover Are Predictive for Cetuximab Efficacy in Colorectal Cancer. Grant Funding Support Credit: H.-J. Lenz was funded by the NCI (award number P30CA014089) and THE WUNDERGLO FOUNDATION. The Lenz laboratory had over 40 peer reviewed publications in 2015 including New England Journal of Medicine, Lancet Oncology, Journal of Clinical Oncology, Annals of Oncology, Clinical Cancer Research and Molecular Cancer Therapeutics. 
 
In 2016, through Wunder Project funding, new biomarker patents have been filed at USC-Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center.
 
In 2015, The Gloria Borges WunderGlo Foundation Reiki and Guided Meditation Program was launched in Los Angeles, California that is free to all cancer patients and their caretakers, regardless of where they receive treatment or their type of cancer. This same program is also established on-site at USC-Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center. In 2016, an on-line support group was also established, called "WunderGlo Chat". This is a forum for those impacted by colorectal cancer and other bowel diseases, a private (secret) group where patients, survivors, and caregivers can share openly with feedback also given by doctors directly affiliated with WunderGlo.
 
Gloria and The WunderGlo Foundation's mantra is to “Love Life” and “Be Grateful”. Without a current cure for this disease, although we may not physically survive the diagnosis, we will not allow it to take one day of our joy or happiness along the way. We are fully in control of how our own personal journey and stories are written. This foundation is “personal”, it is about the patients, the cancer warriors in the trenches, remarkable lives- both past and present. 
 
Please join the Federico and Hamrick families, and The Gloria Borges WunderGlo Foundation as you become a part of this epic journey while raising money for The Wunder Project:
 
To forever honor and celebrate the beautiful life of Felicia Federico and make a donation in her memory, please mail checks payable to:
The WunderGlo Foundation 
10153 Riverside Dr., Suite 732
, Los Angeles, CA 90068 
-OR- 
 
All donations are tax deductible, as no goods or services have been provided. 
Our 501(c)(3) Federal Tax I.D. Number is 45-2823314. 
 
Cancer, Your Time is UP!

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