PICKLES JARS

PICKLES JARS

For kids and teens with parents who have ongoing, complex or advanced cancer, or who have lost a parent to cancer.

Ages 6-18 | Meets Monthly | Virtual
FREE
All are welcome.

An ongoing space from a parent or guardian’s diagnosis through loss, and every moment in between.

Pickles Jars are safe, welcoming, consistent small groups where kids and teens impacted by a parent’s cancer can connect with the same group of kids who get it every month. Just like real-life glass pickle jars support what is inside them, so will the Pickles Jars program.

As part of a Pickles Jar, your child will
💚 meet with the same age group of kids every month.
💚 connect with Pickles Group Peer Leaders who get it and want to pay it forward.
💚 build deeper, stronger, ongoing peer relationships through discussion, play, art and activities.
💚 develop and practice coping skills.

All groups are led by skilled Youth Facilitators who have backgrounds in areas such as Child Life, Social Work, and Nursing. Groups will also include Peer Leaders, older kids who have been part of Pickles Group and can relate. They use a curriculum designed by our Chief Clinical Program Officer, Kelsey Mora, LCPC, CCLS, an expert in supporting families through illness and grief.

When it’s too much to hold alone, Pickles Jars are a new place where kids can hold the sweet and the sour moments – together.

Please note:
We ask you make a year-long commitment to attend Pickles Jars to help create a sense of belonging and stability.
We recommend families navigating a parent or guardian’s cancer start finding support with our 5-week virtual Connect Over Cancer program. If our monthly Pickles Jars program works best for your family, it is available and open to all kids and teens.

Registration for our Fall programs is now open! Fall enrollment deadline: Friday, September 5, 2025

2 types of Pickles jars

  1. Kids with a parent facing ongoing, complex or advanced-stage cancer

  2. Kids who have lost a parent to cancer

Fall enrollment deadline: Friday, September 5, 2025

meeting dates

Every 3rd Sunday of the month

2025-2026 School Year
September 21
October 19
November 16
December 21
January 18
February 15
March 15
April 19
June 21

Pickles Jars Kids’ Stories

When Turo Fernandez found out his mom, Kiyona, had been diagnosed with Stage II breast cancer at age 11, parents worried about how he would process the experience. But then Kiyona’s cancer coach from The Chrysalis Initiative told her about Pickles Group, and they enrolled Turo in our Connect Over Cancer summer session.

Turo found community, care, and connection – a welcoming, inclusive space and he didn’t want it to end — so he joined our pilot of Pickles Jars.

Arturo, Turo’s dad, said, ”Pickles Jar(s) has opened its arms with a warm embrace and in return has given our son the ability and courage to come out of his shell and become more open to discuss difficult topics that cancer brings to the forefront. Pickles Group has been a breath of fresh air in a time when it has felt as though it's hard to breathe.”

Ariella SooHoo’s family heard about Pickles Group from social workers at her mom, Jennie’s, hospital in New York when Jennie was diagnosed with colon and rectal cancer. Jennie’s health quickly took a turn for the worse in October 2024. Jennie died in November when Ariella was just 9 years old, halfway through 4th grade.

Like many families we meet, the challenges and complexity of cancer treatment and the unexpected nature of disease prevented the SooHoo’s from enrolling Ariella in Pickles Group while Jennie was alive.

After Patrick and Ariella had some time to grieve, Patrick reached out to us again. He learned that we were piloting our first-ever program for bereaved kids through Pickles Jars. Patrick jumped at the chance to provide Ariella with a community of support.

“Pickles Jars provides something that individual counseling and school counseling does not. It’s with peers and multiple facilitators. It’s a space where she’s not judged. Something that is separate and private for her,” said Patrick.

Ariella found a place where she could talk and listen with other kids who have faced what no child should face — the death of a parent.

Patrick also told us, “I think it’s given Ariella an outlet to listen and verbalize whatever is on her mind…having that routine <with Pickles Jars> is helpful and develops a rapport. And it’s a constant in her life. It’s a safe space for her. When you lose a loved one, you can go around looking and searching things and not knowing where to go/where to turn to and finding this valuable resource and finding this group she can be involved with has been a great thing for my daughter.”

Our Peer Leaders Say…

“Pickles was there when we needed it — and we HAD to give back. We had to give other kids the same experience we had.”

“The best thing about being a Pickles Jar Peer Leader is seeing a kid who is solitary become not so solitary.”

“It’s getting to see kids open up with each other and getting to see kids growing together as a community.”

— Patrick & Declan, Pickles Group Peer Leaders

“I love seeing the kids grow. They’re having fun, but also learning new coping mechanisms to (help them) deal with having a parent with cancer.”

— Isla, Pickles Group Peer Leader

  • Pickles Jars meet every 3rd Sunday of the month from 11-12am Pacific, 12-1pm Mountain, 1-2pm Central and 2-3pm Eastern.

  • The meetings are conducted virtually via Zoom.

  • There are 10 meetings total, September 2025-June 2026. Youth should plan to attend every month to experience the full benefit of the program.

  • All Pickles Group programs are open to children ages 6-18 or in 1st-12th grade.

  • Meetings are facilitated by our skilled volunteer Youth Facilitators who have backgrounds in child development, education, Child Life, social work, and other youth-focused areas. They use a curriculum developed by Pickles Group Chief Clinical Officer, Kelsey Mora, CCLS, LCPC.

  • Each group varies - but there usually around 18-20 youth in one group at a given time.

  • All Pickles Group programs are 100% free! 

  • Before the session, help your child get set up in a quiet, private, and comfortable space. For younger kids, we recommend an adult stay for the first 5–10 minutes to assist with tech and ensure they're settled. Kids often feel most at ease sharing when they have space away from their parent or guardian. Parents receive prompts to support continued connection and conversation at home.

  • The groups are closed - meaning that the same, small, consistent group of Youth Facilitators, Peer Leaders, and participants are at every meeting. However, twice a year, the groups will open up to let in new individuals. 

If you have additional questions about our programs, we are happy to talk to your family.
Please email Cam Dews, Pickles Group Program Director, at cameryn@picklesgroup.org.

FAQs