ForEm Foundation
ForEm
Foundation
Support the ForEm Mission
Nearly 50,000 Americans are diagnosed with an HPV-associated cancer every year. Cervical cancer is only one of six.
Behind every number is a person, a family, and a life that matters. Too many of these cancers are preventable. Too many patients are still failed by gaps in prevention, access, and care.
We’re done pretending silence is compassion. We’re here to fight for what can change.
Donate
Grief will make you do things you hadn't considered previously, like start a cancer nonprofit in memory of your late best friend. That's exactly how ForEm came to be — built from the aftermath of losing the center of your universe. That's how irreplaceable Emily is, and we refuse to let her story end here. She often said she wouldn't wish this disease on her worst enemy, and Emily didn't have any enemies.
Everything we do is for Emily. Our mission is clear — we want the next Emily to have a different outcome. That is what we are forever fighting for. Period.
Your donation keeps ForEm running — covering the basics that let a small, fierce organization do big work. It builds the Butterfly Memorial at Murray State's Doran Arboretum, a living place to remember Emily and everyone like her. It moves our advocacy forward — from Frankfort to wherever this fight takes us — putting ForEm in the rooms where decisions affecting patients are made. And it moves us closer to bigger goals: launching the Emily Fighting Fund — direct support, paying bills and covering costs for people fighting HPV-related cancers right now, funding for overdue HPV-related cancer research, and prevention assistance to help as many people as we possibly can.
Prefer to mail a check? Make checks payable to:
ForEm Foundation Inc.
1709 Wells Dr.
Apt #A
Murray, KY 42071
ForEm Foundation Inc. is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization. Your donation is tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law.
Leadership
Derek Ferguson — President. Oversees ForEm's operations, compliance and community partnerships, including coordination with Murray State University's Doran Arboretum and the artists creating the Emily Depke Butterfly Memorial. Derek also represents ForEm throughout the community.
Kevin Depke — Co-Founder | Community & Legislative Liaison. Emily's husband. Leads direct legislative outreach and community engagement tied to Emily's Law and will represent ForEm in legislative testimony as the proposal advances.
Jessica Riddle — Co-Founder. Emily's best friend and the primary writer and strategist behind Emily's Law and ForEm's public advocacy. Jessica leads the Foundation's policy development, research and communications work.
Share your story
Stories help us see what statistics alone can miss. Tell us what made a difference — the care that helped, the people who listened, the treatment that worked — and where the system fell short. Together, these experiences can help reveal what needs to change and what deserves to be carried forward.
Volunteer Your Expertise
We’re seeking legal, medical, and strategy professionals to help strengthen our advocacy for healthcare accountability. Lend your expertise to help us turn knowledge into action, action into change — and ultimately, save lives.
Legal
Help review legislative proposals, patient-rights information, nonprofit compliance and healthcare-policy language so ForEm's advocacy is both effective and legally sound.
Medical
Provide independent clinical perspective on HPV-related cancer prevention, screening, recurrence, biomarkers and treatment-selection practices, and help ensure ForEm's public medical language reflects current evidence.
Strategy
Help translate patient and survivor voices into effective communications, public engagement and policy advocacy that can drive meaningful change.