Seeing as I work for the American Cancer Society and am a past and current participant of the Relay for Life event, I want to encourage you (no matter where you live) to consider participating as well. One in three people will be diagnosed with cancer, which means that chances are you know someone who has battled this horrible disease or have battled it yourself.
I started to Relay my freshman year of college when I found out my mom was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. She is currently in remission (thank God) but I Relay for her and for my Opi (grandpa) who passed away last August (a week after my wedding) from lung cancer.
This disease is everywhere I look. And while I’m no Nobel prize winning scientist, I know there are things I can do to help in addition to providing support to those around me. The money raised for the American Cancer Society doesn’t only fund research— although, ACS has funded 44 of those Nobel Prize winning scientists. The money also goes to fund programs that educate people about cancer so we can prevent it or catch it in its earliest stages and to help those who already have it. There are some amazing programs like Road to Recovery, where volunteers drive people to their cancer treatments, and Look Good Feel Better, where we provide women with free wigs and beauty techniques to help boost their self-esteem about how they look as they undergo treatment. For more information about programs or to access our resources check out http://www.cancer.org.
I hope you’ll join me and thousands of people across the country in 2010 as we Relay to Celebrate, Remember and Fight Back!
