INDY Foundation: Connecting through Cancer

About INDY Foundation: Connecting through Cancer

Welcome to the INDY Foundation: Connecting Through Cancer hosted by Kayla Keenan, founder of INDY Foundation, a non-profit located in central Minnesota. Here at INDY, we believe in supporting and connecting cancer warriors throughout their cancer journey. Our mission is to provide financial and community support to cancer warriors across Minnesota. Join us as we share inspiring stories, valuable resources and important updates to help you and your load ones navigate the challenges of cancer with strength and hope. Each episode will feature heartfelt conversations with cancer warriors, their families, and experts in the field, offering insights and encouragement for every step of the way. INDY is short for "I'm Not Done Yet," a phrase often said by the late Kyle Strand during his courageous battle with colon cancer. Kyle's four-year journey was both extremely challenging and profoundly beautiful. Though he lost his battle in July 2017, his legacy lives on through his two dying wishes: to establish the INDY Foundation and to inspire others to live every day to its fullest. In August 2017, the INDY Foundation was born, continuing Kyle's mission to support and uplift cancer warriors everywhere. Find more information here: www.indy-foundation.org (http://www.indy-foundation.org) Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/ImNotDoneYetMN Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/indyfoundation/ (https://www.instagram.com/indyfoundation/) Join our INDY Tribe - Inner Circle FB Group. A group for those affected by cancer. https://www.facebook.com/groups/202854020588761 (https://www.facebook.com/groups/202854020588761)

Publisher

INDY Foundation

Category

business · health & fitness

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

27 Aug 2024

Latest episode

6 Oct 2026

Latest episodes

108 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   6 Oct 2026

   Think Pink for INDY: How Two Volunteers Built a Breast Cancer Fundraiser in St. Cloud

   Takeaways Think Pink for INDY is a free community breast cancer fundraiser on Thursday, October 15 at Legends Bar & Grill in St. Cloud, Minnesota. Every dollar raised goes to local breast cancer patients through INDY Foundation. Troy Lenarz and Brandon Voigt started with $1,800 raised in their first year and are on track to pass $60,000 in total. Their takeaway for anyone who wants to start something in their own town: if you can do something, you should do something. Showing up does not have to be a huge commitment. Brandon puts the real effort at around 10 hours, and Troy says it is probably more, and that time has already turned into support for local families, school fundraisers, and a full-circle night at the ballpark. Summary of the episode In this episode of Connecting Through Cancer, Kayla Keenan sits down with Troy Lenarz of Alliance Imaging and Regional Diagnostic Radiology and Brandon Voigt, Market President and Commercial Lender at Falcon National Bank. Together they lead Think Pink for INDY, a breast cancer fundraiser that supports local patients in Central Minnesota. Troy shares that he lost his Aunt Ellie to breast cancer and named his older daughter after her. Brandon explains why he joined: he has a wife, a daughter, and family, and he believes that if you can do something, you should do something. The two tell the story of how a chamber of commerce meeting started it all, how their first events supported a national breast cancer campaign before they brought the work home to INDY Foundation, and why they asked that the money go specifically to breast cancer patients. Kayla explains why that focus matters: close to half of INDY Foundation's nominations come from people with breast cancer, and while they are in treatment they still have to work, pay bills, and care for their families. A typical INDY check is $2,000, so a strong year at Think Pink supports around ten local patients. The conversation also covers the Pink in the Park night with the St. Cloud Rox, where last year's honorees were all breast cancer patients supported by Think Pink for INDY, and the Parade of Hope that followed. Troy and Brandon share what stays with them from working alongside honorees, how they protect their volunteer committee from burnout, and how local schools are now hosting their own events, including a Dig Pink volleyball night that raised $9,800. They close with everything you need to attend: the date, the location, the raffles, the live music, and how to help even if you only stop by for a drink. INDY is short for "I'm Not Done Yet," a phrase often said by the late Kyle Strand during his courageous battle with colon cancer. Kyle's four-year journey was both extremely challenging and profoundly beautiful. Though he lost his battle in July 2017, his legacy lives on through his two dying wishes: to establish the INDY Foundation and to inspire others to live every day to its fullest. In August 2017, the INDY Foundation was born, continuing Kyle's mission to support and uplift cancer warriors everywhere. Find more information here: www.indy-foundation.org (http://www.indy-foundation.org) Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/ImNotDoneYetMN (https://www.facebook.com/ImNotDoneYetMN) Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/indyfoundation/ (https://www.instagram.com/indyfoundation/) Join our INDY Tribe - Inner Circle FB Group. A group for those affected by cancer. https://www.facebook.com/groups/202854020588761 (https://www.facebook.com/groups/202854020588761)

2. 

   29 Sept 2026

   What Cancer Can't Take: Love, Memories, Laughter, and Purpose

   Takeaways Cancer takes a lot, and it is okay to say so. It still does not get to take everything, including love, memories, laughter, friendship, and purpose. Grief and joy can live side by side. You can miss someone terribly and still smile at a ridiculous memory. Feeling guilty for enjoying life again after loss is common in grief, and it can ease with time. It is okay to laugh, celebrate a birthday, and take the trip. You do not have to fix someone's situation to make a difference in it. Showing up, listening, and sitting beside them is often enough. Small acts of support, like a gas card, a grocery gift card, a comfort backpack, or a text message, can tell someone they are not walking through a cancer journey alone. Even in the middle of something you did not choose, you still get to choose what comes next. Summary of the episode As Childhood Cancer Awareness Month closes and Breast Cancer Awareness Month begins, Kayla Keenan turns the usual conversation around. Instead of listing what cancer takes from patients, caregivers, and families, she asks what cancer can't take. Drawing on her own cancer journey and ten years of working with INDY Foundation, she shares a list of things that remain, and sometimes grow stronger, through hard seasons: love, memories, laughter, friendship, purpose, and community. Kayla is direct about the loss. Cancer took her husband, Kyle, along with time, energy, and security, and she says so plainly. She also talks about what it left behind: a new perspective, deeper relationships, and a strong desire to help others walking the same road. She opens up about the guilt that came with feeling joy again, including when she started dating after Kyle's death, and reminds listeners that it is okay to laugh while you are grieving. Kayla also explains how INDY Foundation puts this into practice. A gas card, a grocery gift card, a backpack filled with comfort items, or a simple text can send a message that someone is seen. She shares what she watched in Kyle's final days, when friends showed up and sat beside him without needing to fix anything, and she encourages listeners to make cancer support about the people behind the diagnosis, from siblings and parents to teachers and friends. The episode closes with a message to anyone in the middle of their own hard chapter. Cancer may change your story, but it does not get to write the whole thing. Kayla returns to Kyle's mantra, "I'm not done yet," and invites listeners to take what cancer taught them and use it to leave something beautiful behind. INDY is short for "I'm Not Done Yet," a phrase often said by the late Kyle Strand during his courageous battle with colon cancer. Kyle's four-year journey was both extremely challenging and profoundly beautiful. Though he lost his battle in July 2017, his legacy lives on through his two dying wishes: to establish the INDY Foundation and to inspire others to live every day to its fullest. In August 2017, the INDY Foundation was born, continuing Kyle's mission to support and uplift cancer warriors everywhere. Find more information here: www.indy-foundation.org (http://www.indy-foundation.org) Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/ImNotDoneYetMN (https://www.facebook.com/ImNotDoneYetMN) Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/indyfoundation/ (https://www.instagram.com/indyfoundation/) Join our INDY Tribe - Inner Circle FB Group. A group for those affected by cancer. https://www.facebook.com/groups/202854020588761 (https://www.facebook.com/groups/202854020588761)

3. 

   22 Sept 2026

   What Am I Leaving Behind? Legacy, Grief, and Living on Purpose After Cancer

   Takeaways Legacy starts now, not someday. The question "What am I leaving behind?" is about how you treat your kids, your friends, and the people you meet this week. Cancer sucks, and hard seasons are not gifts. They can still push you to ask who you are and who you want to be, and you get to choose what you do with what happens to you. You do not have to cure cancer to make a difference. Rides to appointments, groceries, gas, and the words "we see you" make the road less lonely and less heavy for someone in treatment. Small acts of kindness create a ripple effect. A smile, a text, or a coffee for the person behind you costs almost nothing, and you may never see where it ends up. Grief and joy can share the same room. You can miss someone desperately and still have a really good day, and neither one cancels out the other. Summary of the episode In this solo episode, the second in Kayla's Living More Like Dolly conversation, she keeps thinking about Dolly Parton's words and realizes the topic has grown bigger than one public figure. It is really about how we choose to live, what happens when life gets hard, and what we leave behind. Kayla starts with a question that cancer and grief tend to force on all of us: what will people carry forward because I was here? She is direct that cancer sucks and that there is nothing beautiful about scans, waiting rooms, or hearing a diagnosis said out loud about someone you love. From that honest starting point, she talks about the moment Kyle died, the things left unfinished, and the harder question grief raised about her own life. Not the house or the resume, but whether she loved people well and showed up. She shares how INDY Foundation grew out of that pain and why she believes you do not have to cure cancer to make a difference. The second half turns to what anyone can do. Kayla covers small acts of kindness and the ripple effect they create, why grief and joy can exist together, and how the people we lose stay with us through what they gave us. She closes with a challenge to every listener, whether they are a patient, a caregiver, someone in grief, or none of the above: do it on purpose, and leave something good behind. INDY is short for "I'm Not Done Yet," a phrase often said by the late Kyle Strand during his courageous battle with colon cancer. Kyle's four-year journey was both extremely challenging and profoundly beautiful. Though he lost his battle in July 2017, his legacy lives on through his two dying wishes: to establish the INDY Foundation and to inspire others to live every day to its fullest. In August 2017, the INDY Foundation was born, continuing Kyle's mission to support and uplift cancer warriors everywhere. Find more information here: www.indy-foundation.org (http://www.indy-foundation.org) Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/ImNotDoneYetMN (https://www.facebook.com/ImNotDoneYetMN) Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/indyfoundation/ (https://www.instagram.com/indyfoundation/) Join our INDY Tribe - Inner Circle FB Group. A group for those affected by cancer. https://www.facebook.com/groups/202854020588761 (https://www.facebook.com/groups/202854020588761)

Who has been a guest on INDY Foundation: Connecting through Cancer

Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.

• Mitch Keenan
• Sara Kruger
• Jen Stich

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

8 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 41 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

69

Social presence

0

YouTube

0

Engagement

32

Contact INDY Foundation: Connecting through Cancer

Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.

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