Men’s cancer retreat - The Gathering of Wolves 2024

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

Our in-person men’s cancer retreat has been called “restorative,” “life-changing,” and “the best event I’ve ever attended” by men who have experienced it.

Will you be joining us in 2024?

This transformative 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, please send a message to retreat@manuptocancer.org.

Our 2024 Gathering of Wolves will retain the retreat's core identity of brotherhood, healing through storytelling, campfires, and unstructured time for leisure, games, and conversation. We are adding activities and educational breakout sessions focused on improving quality of life. The full program will not be made final until summer of 2024, but these are sessions in the works:

• Art Therapy with Chris Taylor

• Qigong with Jason Randall

• Mindful Movement and Mental Health with Jay Abramovitch

• Practical fitness for cancer patients and survivors

• Tips and tools for managing chemotherapy

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

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