At our 2018 event we were blessed to have to the following presenters share their messages of hope with us. Their stories and videos of their presentations are included below.

Featured Presenters

“Thy Will be Done” 

My name is Sam Cooper and I am 59 years old. I’ve been married to my wife Paula for 20 years. We have four adult children; and two grandchildren.

My story is one of hope, prayer and deepening faith. In 2003, I was diagnosed with the first of 2 very different cancers. Both cancers were a struggle in their own rite. God’s powerful love pulled me through, and calls me to share with others. At this years A Night of Hope I will share God’s great gifts of prayer, love and hope. Or, as we say in our house, “the gift of cancer”.
My story is not so much about cancer as it is about the hope that was never lost, the powerful prayers, acts of love, and a deepening of faith. God was and continues to be very present along our journey of accepting “Thy Will be Done”.

“Serving the Homeless”

Dave Harvey and my wife Cheryl of 37 years, have 3 grown children and 6 grandchildren. We are both active parishioners at St Patrick’s in Gretna.

During my story, I will share with you how Jesus has continued to open doors in our life and how we have learned to simply trust in the good Lord. Through each door, we have grown a ministry called Least of my Brethren that was started by my wife and I, to help homeless survive the streets, get a job, and move into a home of their own. By the time of this program, we will have helped about 600 people as they get a fresh start in life and make a new home for themselves. It has not always been easy, and there have been challenges, but through divine guidance, we continue to find ways to meet the needs of the most vulnerable in our society.

“A Butterfly Lights Beside Us”

Julie Dornisch is mother to four children – Ashley, Maddie, Charlotte, and Keegan, and grandmother to Sami, and Maddie.

Julie will share her experience with Maddie, her daughter, throughout her year-long illness, and the extraordinary path that her family has been on these past 14 years since her death, and how God’s grace has been an integral part of their journey.

Join us as Julie talks about the evolution of hope, and the role grace plays in that, through the phases of initial diagnosis, illness progression, death of a child, grief, and then learning to live again fully after losing a child.

“Finding Hope: A Path Of Bravery”

I am Nicole Bianchi. My husband Dave and I have been married for 21+ years, we have three children, Morgen (19), Joe (17) and Nic (16). I love our family and so incredibly thankful for them. They have been through so many of the moments in this story. I am the co-founder and partner at Bravium Human Development. We attend Reality Church in Papillion, NE.

Join me as a I share my story of being orphaned at age 41, my brothers and I losing our dad and mom to cancer. This is a story fueled with hope and love while turning to God during our darkest times. When my dad was diagnosed we were ill equipped for the journey and my mom blamed god for my dad’s sudden death. Then my mom was diagnosed we chose a different path. I’ll share our story of bravery, strength and advocacy during my mom’s journey and how God provides us signs if we are open to seeing them.