Kind words and cash to pay doctors bills are welcome gifts to a loved one battling cancer. But your friend might also need a babysitter or a lotion that offers relief during chemotherapy. A Minneapolis-based gift registry designed to “rally” people around these practical needs has you – and your friend – covered.
Rally Registry functions like a wedding gift registry “when people really need that support the absolute most,” said Katie Moss, co-founder and head of marketing. Patients or their caregivers can select products that take into account their current or potential symptoms, as well as services that will support them and their households, like transportation, meal delivery or home cleaning.
Since launching in March, the site is resonating with patients and healthcare teams – folks who usually spend time with patients supplying lists of recommended products. As the company works on expanding its marketing to states outside Minnesota, it’s finishing a $350,000 seed round. All the funds raised so far are from individual angels, nearly half of who live in the Twin Cities, Moss said. They expect to finish the round in early 2019.
Registries are free to set up and products are sold at the same rate you’d find them in any other store. Rally Registry contracts with manufacturers and service providers who pay a fee to have their products marketed on the registry, Moss said.
The cornerstone of the site is its curated feel. The company has a multi-step process to find the right products to help patients at any stage of their cancer treatment. (They expect to expand to assist patients with other types of diagnoses, but their focus is on cancer as they get established, Moss said.) During the “Rally Review,” a team of physicians sign off on all the products the site features. Product information pages include a section on why it’s included.
“Sometimes it’s from our physician saying how to use it,” Moss said. To her, a limited set of offerings is important because it reduces the time a patient or caregiver has to spend comparing user reviews when setting up their registry. Feedback they’ve received, especially from caregivers, tells her they’re doing the right thing. “It’s exciting to see it’s being helpful and they’re finding value in that.”
Rally Registry grew out of the co-founders’ experience as one of them was diagnosed with cancer. At the time Patty Ziomek was diagnosed in 2014, they worked together at a small healthcare company. Her friends and co-workers wanted to show their support but couldn’t find any resources to guide them on what Patty would need most. It wasn’t flowers – she’s allergic. But the DVDs and fuzzy socks they bought to fill a care package didn’t feel like they were enough, either.
The experience gave them a glimpse into patient experiences. While there are ample resources for emotional or financial support for patients undergoing treatment for cancer, patients need tangible support, as well. When Ziomek entered remission, they started Rally Registry to fill that void.
“She got dealt this card that no one wants to get,” Moss said. “But to turn it around and make such a positive out of it that we hope will help patients years and years to come … Patty definitely feels that as we all do.”
