Gifting Joy was founded in the fall of 2022 by Alexa Baltazar, who knows firsthand the challenges of cancer treatment. In 2021, Alexa was diagnosed with leukemia at age 28—a life-changing diagnosis for someone so young and healthy. Her treatment was grueling: five hospitalizations for intensive chemotherapy followed by a bone marrow transplant that required a month-long stay in isolation. During that time, she faced overwhelming physical and emotional hurdles.

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Out of this experience, Gifting Joy was created to provide little moments of happiness for patients undergoing bone marrow transplants at Duke Hospital. What began with gift baskets delivered by Alexa to patients on the transplant unit has grown into something bigger.

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Because of Alexa’s own journey, including a small window during treatment when she was able to preserve her fertility, Gifting Joy has expanded its mission to address one of the most pressing challenges young adults with cancer face: the devastating reality of infertility. In North Carolina, insurance does not cover fertility preservation, leaving patients with thousands of dollars in out-of-pocket costs if they wish to preserve their fertility.

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Today, Gifting Joy’s primary mission is to support the Duke Cancer Institute Oncofertility Fund, which provides grants to young adults in cancer treatment preserving their fertility. By easing this financial burden, we help ensure that patients don’t have to sacrifice the hope of future family-building because of an insurance gap.

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Alongside this critical work, we remain committed to bringing joy through gift baskets on the Duke bone marrow transplant unit—where our story began.