ISSE: My name is Melissa Waddey, but everyone calls me Isse. On November 13th, 2017, I was diagnosed with colon cancer. And I was told on September 12th, 2018, that I had 6 months to live. And we sit here today, we're almost at that 6 month marker, and so I'm glad to still be alive and still fighting my battle, but I'm still alive. When we were told that news on September 12th, that changed our lives forever. But I appreciate every single day that I'm alive, that I get to hug my kids and my husband, and I don't take one day for granted anymore.
ALEX: When Isse was diagnosed, it was really important to us, after learning all the statistics and understanding how deadly it is, yet how preventable it is, to really bring awareness around colon cancer. So as part of our awareness campaign, we partnered with Colon Cancer Coalition to start a race here in Nashville to bring awareness to colon cancer.
ISSE: We opened a Schwab Charitable account because it is very important to ALEX and I to give back. We have been fortunate. We wanted to make sure that philanthropy and giving back was a priority for us as a couple, but also for our family. And so we wanted to make sure our children were being taught that same thing as well.
ALEX: So once we found that out, all the benefits that Schwab Charitable presented, it was a no brainer for us. It helped us really focus our philanthropic giving, be more dedicated in terms of the timing with which we gave, and that in the organizations with which we gave. Whether we're here, or whether if something happens to us, we had the money in the account that is designated for philanthropic needs.
ISSE: And it also holds us accountable to make sure that we're evaluating that regularly. Because it's such an important part of who we are as a family, we wanted to make sure that we made that, that top priority for us, and the way we did that was through Schwab Charitable.
