Gilda's Club is a community organization for people with cancer, their families and friends. Local chapters provide meeting places where those who have cancer, their families, and friends can join with others to build emotional and social support as a supplement to medical care. Free of charge and nonprofit, Gilda's Club chapters offer support and networking groups, lectures, workshops and social events in a nonresidential, homelike setting. The club was named in honor of the original Saturday Night Live cast member Gilda Radner, who died of ovarian cancer in 1989. In 2009, Gilda's Club merged with The Wellness Community to form the Cancer Support Community, although local branches generally opted to retain the name Gilda's Club. Gilda's Clubs generates funds to support its programs through events often hosted by notable figures. History Gilda's Club was founded by Joanna Bull, Radner's cancer psychotherapist and co-founded with Radner's widower, Gene Wilder (himself a cancer survivor) and broadcaster Joel Siegel (who died after a long battle with the disease). Joanna Bull started the project with just $10,000 and networked in the New York cancer support community. She became the executive director of the first club opened in New York City in 1995, after a long fundraising campaign that included movie trailers featuring Wilder in theaters around the country who acted as the celebrity spokesman. The organization took its name from Radner's comment that cancer gave her "membership to an elite club I'd rather not belong to". Radner's story can be read in her book, It's Always Something. Gilda's Club is famous for its signature red doors meant to symbolize Radner's "vibrancy". Each club is required to meet certain criteria before being approved for a new location. These specific criteria includes: accessibility- each club must be near public transportation and have easy highway access, generate $1 million in fundraising prior to opening, and adhere to approved wellness therapies. Following these guidelines, Minnesota opened a Gilda's Club after raising $3.8 million in 8 years. In 1998 Chicago opened its first Gilda's club, since then it has expanded to 4 new locations in the Chicago area. In July 2009, Gilda’s Club Worldwide merged with The Wellness Community, another established cancer support organization to create the Cancer Support Community (CSC). As of 2012, there are over 20 Gilda’s Club clubhouses. Although some local affiliates of Gilda’s Club and The Wellness Community have retained their names, many affiliates