Men’s cancer retreat - The Gathering of Wolves

The Gathering of Wolves is the signature annual event for the Man Up to Cancer community.

This transformative in-person retreat is quickly becoming the go-to event for men impacted by a cancer diagnosis. It is a place of restoration, fun activities, and brotherhood. Thanks to sponsors and donors, the GOW is free for attendees, and travel assistance is available through the Scott Johnson Memorial Fund.

Space is limited and only members of Man Up to Cancer are eligible to attend. Not a member? Click here to sign up for our Howling Place Facebook group.

For existing members who wish to register for the 2024 event, a web form will be available in the Howling Place around March 1, 2024.

For more information, or to inquire about becoming a sponsor for the #GOW, please email jay@manuptocancer.org

With a membership of more than 2,300, Man Up to Cancer inspires men to connect and avoid isolation during their cancer journeys. Besides the annual retreat, our organization offers peer-to-peer support, chemo backpack program, and more than 30 local chapters.

HOOOOOOOWWWWWWL!

Reflections from the founder

My heart is full, my body is tired.

Headed home from the Gathering of Wolves men’s cancer retreat 2023.

Three days and nights spent in the woods with my Man Up to Cancer brothers. 110 cancer patients, survivors, and male caregivers, from three countries and more than 20 cancer types. Guys from all ages and walks of life.

We shared stories around the campfires, ate family style meals, played games, practical jokes (I know it was you, Chris Taylor!), honored our fallen brothers, and talked from early morning until late into the night.

For some guys, it was a chance to relax and breathe freely for the first time in a long time during the cancer journey. Some made new friends that will last a lifetime. For others, the retreat lit a fire within that will lead to personal growth. For many, including myself, it was all of the above.

We hugged. A lot.

We said “I love you” without reservation or shame. A lot.

With cancer, each of us carry a burden that no one should carry alone. When we gather like this, we learn to carry that burden together.

It is an honor of a lifetime to watch grown men - perhaps for the first time ever - drop the masks and be truly vulnerable with a group of other men. It is nothing short of transformative.

You can only get a hint of this magic from an email, text, or zoom. The real magic happens when you gather in person.

To all the men who attended, thank you. To those who signed up but were forced to stay home because of cancer, you were with us in spirit. To the 76 members who died in the past year, you are never forgotten.

Lots of photos and videos to share over the next days and weeks to come.

Men have been supporting other men for thousands of years.

It’s not new.

It just happens to be our turn.

- Trevor Maxwell

Man Up to Cancer Hosts Largest Ever Men’s Cancer Retreat

More than 100 patients and survivors from across North America converged in Western New York for the second annual Gathering of Wolves

DELEVAN, N.Y., Sept. 10, 2023 — Man Up to Cancer, North America’s leading support community for men impacted by cancer, hosted its second annual retreat Sept. 7-10 at Duffield Camp and Retreat Center.

The Gathering of Wolves was the largest men’s cancer retreat ever held in the U.S., with 110 members of Man Up to Cancer in attendance. Attendees traveled from across the U.S. and Canada, and as far away as Sint-Niklaas, Belgium. The retreat was more than twice the size of last year’s inaugural event.

“Cancer brings stress and hardship in all areas of our lives. This retreat is all about taking a break from that stress and spending time with guys who are walking the same road,” said Man Up to Cancer founder Trevor Maxwell of Cape Elizabeth, Maine. “It’s all about fun, food, relaxation, campfires, and brotherhood.”

Thanks to sponsors and individual donations, the retreat was entirely free for attendees. Those who needed travel assistance received funding from the Scott Johnson Memorial Fund, in partnership with the Johnson family of Berlin, Conn. The fund is named in honor of Scott Johnson, a family man, firefighter, and U.S. Coast Guard veteran who passed away from cancer in 2017 at the age of 43.

The lead planners for the Gathering of Wolves are Amanda Wolanske of Buffalo, N.Y., and Michael Riehle of South Wales, N.Y. Sponsors for the event are Natera, Seagen, Guardant Health, Fight Colorectal Cancer, Colon Cancer Coalition, and the American Association for Cancer Research.

Man Up to Cancer, with a membership of more than 2,300, inspires men to connect and avoid isolation during their cancer journeys. Besides the annual retreat, the organization offers peer-to-peer support, chemo backpack program, and more than 30 local chapters.

“When faced with cancer, women tend to reach out, and men tend to check out. This leads to mental health problems, strained relationships, and poor medical outcomes,” Maxwell said. “It’s time for a new path. We are changing what it means to ‘Man Up.’ It’s not just about being tough. It means having the courage to accept help, and knowing we are smarter and stronger as a pack than we are as lone wolves.”