The Elika Anne Hemphill Memorial Fund honors Elika, advancing colorectal cancer awareness, young-onset research, healthy living, and caregiver support.
Elika Anne Hemphill was a beloved mother, wife, daughter, and friend. With limitless charm and wit, she dedicated her life to building stronger communities and supporting people in need, especially homeless children. Every day, she woke up with an earnest desire to make lives better, and she succeeded by pounding on doors, telling it like it was, and refusing “no.”
Elika had a sparkle about her and the looks of classic beauty — qualities that would catch anyone’s attention. But her generous and thoughtful heart, her loving soul, her gift with the written word, and her desire to accept all people made her truly shine.
Family and friends were the cornerstones of Elika’s life. After she was diagnosed with young-onset colorectal cancer in 2006, Elika navigated treatment with grace and grit, always wearing a smile for those she loved while privately enduring mental hardship.
Elika passed away on November 7, 2008, at age 41, leaving behind three children and an enduring legacy that the Elika Anne Hemphill Memorial Fund further strengthens. The fund supports programs to reverse the rise of young-onset colorectal cancer. By donating, you are helping to keep Elika’s sparkle alive and find a cure to this disease in our lifetime.
Dinner at Sunset was a "signature soiree" held by Elika and Rich every year to build a sense of community by bringing together friends who didn’t know each other. In the spirit of Elika’s wish to keep everyone connected, secure and loved, they've resurrected Dinner at Sunset to spread colorectal cancer awareness and hope. With the help of the Colorectal Cancer Alliance, the event raises vital funds and connections to help patients like Elika and families like theirs.
Rich Confalone shares Elika's story, a compassionate advocate who faced young-onset colorectal cancer with grace.
The Elika Anne Hemphill Memorial Fund, established by Rich Confalone in 2022, seeks to:
Your gift is a meaningful way to support the national nonprofit Colorectal Cancer Alliance and honor Elika’s memory.
Do you remember that Donny & Marie song from the close of their old TV show? Despite some memory loss due to chemo, I still remember all the words.
"May tomorrow be a perfect day, may you find love and laughter along the way, may God keep you in his tender care, ‘til he brings us together again."
I love the inference in the song that God only need watch over us until we’re back with Donny & Marie for the next show.
In any case, I do like the words to the song, and I hope above all, that whoever it is that’s watching over us keep you and yours in good health, good spirits and good humor.
— Elika, from her online essays
Please make a donation in memory and honor of Elika.
This year was the Alliance’s 25th year of impact, and we’re looking back on some of the milestones that made 2024 a year to remember.
The Colorectal Cancer Alliance’s national Blue Hope Bash, held November 2 at the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C., raised nearly $2 million to support lifesaving work.
Colorectal cancer patient Mark Bassett won a Porsche in the Blue Hope Bash car raffle, bringing unexpected joy and new experiences amid his cancer journey.