Equity Estates Sponsors Late Stage Cancer Foundation

By: Destination Club News
Date: July 22, 2010

This year, Equity Estates, one of the world's fastest growing destination clubs, has procured a partnership with The Hideaways Club, Europe's largest destination club, to greatly enhance the travel experience for members. Now the club has announced a new partnership that will greatly enhance the lives of late stage cancer patients through a sponsorship of the Jack & Jill Late Stage Cancer Foundation (JAJF).

Created in 2006, the Jack & Jill Late Stage Cancer Foundation was founded when Jon Albert's wife Jill passed away from Stage IV metastatic breast cancer, leaving behind two young children. The foundation strives to provide "timeouts" for families with children at home between the ages of three and 18 and with a mother or father suffering from late stage cancer. Since their inception, Jack & Jill's has provided experiences for more than 300 families, receiving referrals from 110 oncology hospitals in 36 states.

Equity Estates has pledged to help create awareness for the JAJF, providing vacation experiences each year by donating the management company's usage nights, and encouraging Equity Estates members to donate their own nights to the foundation.

"At Equity Estates, we have always had a commitment to giving back to the community and when we heard about the Jack & Jill Late Stage Cancer Foundation, we knew this was a cause we had to get involved with," said Philip Mekelburg, Co-Founder of Equity Estates. "Every single staff member at Equity Estates was eager to step up to the plate and make a difference for the families of the Jack & Jill Late Stage Cancer Foundation."

Equity Estates has already completed their first trip for the JAJF, sending a Philadelphia area family to their residence in Naples, Florida. The family's 23 year old mother is suffering from late stage leukemia but got to enjoy the stay with her three children and the family's maternal grandmother. During their stay, much of the time was spent by the pool, but the family also dined out at several family-friendly restaurants, including a birthday party for their five year old at Yabba, complete with gifts, balloons, and surprises for all.

"The concept of Equity Estates is all about living life to its fullest and that is what the Jack & Jill Late Stage Cancer Foundation is all about too, making this an ideal partnership," said Jon Albert. "There honestly could not be a better match than Equity Estates and the Jack & Jill Late Stage Cancer Foundation, both philosophically and in our endeavor to create memories for families."

Many other destination clubs have introduced new philanthropic efforts in recent months. Destination Cellars, the industry's only wine focused destination club, supported cancer research at a gala last year. Banyan Tree Private Collection recently announced a new partnership with Habitat For Humanity, contributing $20,000 for every membership sold.

Destination clubs intentionally underutilize the properties available to members, meaning that each club's homes rest vacant far more frequently than other travel options such as timeshare units or luxury hotels. These unused nights serve a vast array of uses. Not only does it allow members to take spur of the moment trips, but also allows the club to gift these excess nights of inventories to such causes as the Jack & Jill Late Stage Cancer Foundation. Congratulations to Equity Estates for entering into this new alliance and we hope that the club has the opportunity to delight many more families.