American Cancer Society - Relay For Life in Braintree

Celebration On The Hill

Celebration On The Hill Creates Nationwide Support For Cancer

As a full moon rose over the US Capitol, the 12-hour Relay For Life Celebration on the Hill at the National Mall in Washington, DC, ended Sept. 19 after a steady stream of legislators visited with 3,000 American Cancer Society (ACS) ambassadors. They urged members of Congress to make cancer a national priority and advocated laws that can affect millions of people in the fight against cancer.

The ACS ambassadors represented all 50 states and each of the 435 Congressional districts.

The grassroots event kicked off in March with the nationwide launch of the Relay For Life Celebration Bus. The shrink-wrapped "rolling petition" gathered more than 125,000 signatures as it traveled nearly 43,000 miles from coast to coast through 444 cities. All the signatures were on display at the Celebration event, and the Bus had signatures on it recently gathered from New England.

Nearly 7,000 people, including survivors and volunteers from across the country, participated in the Relay For Life Celebration on the Hill. They represented the 450,000 survivors and volunteers anticipated to participate in Relay events nationwide throughout the year.

White House Reception

President George W. Bush addressed the fight against cancer in the East Room on Sept. 18 before the nation's top health officials, members of Congress, cancer survivor and four-time Tour de France victor Lance Armstrong, and a delegation of American Cancer Society leadership.

He welcomed Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) Tommy Thompson; Andy von Eschenbach, MD, director of the National Cancer Institute; Elias Zerhouni, MD, director of the National Institutes of Health; Surgeon General Rich Carmona, MD; and, Julie Gerberding, MD, director of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).

The President announced that his 2003 budget would increase funding for cancer research by $629 million, for a total investment in cancer research throughout the National Institutes of Health of more than $5 billion.

"In order to win the war against cancer, we must fund the war against cancer," he said. "And I appreciate the members of Congress here, who are committed to making sure this budget gets enacted soon."

To Phylecia Wilson, cancer survivor and ACS spokesperson from Atlanta, "fund the war against cancer" were welcome words as she heard the President speak. Last year she was diagnosed with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML).

Luckily, she was put into a clinical trial. The trial was testing a new drug called Gleevec that targets cancer cells at their molecular level. Since Gleevec only targets cancer cells, Wilson has experienced very few side effects.

Meeting With Members Of Congress
Fifty white tents with purple banners bearing the name of each state were set up at the end of the National Mall near the Washington Monument. Ambassadors met with members of Congress at the Mall, at the Capitol in their offices, on the Capitol steps, at the Celebration Bus where they signed, or on the track around the Reflection Pool.

At the Missouri tent, ambassadors Molly and Steve Nuhn met with Rep. Kenny Hulshof (R.-Mo.) and Sen. Kit Bond (R.-Mo.). They listened as 20 survivors told their stories. The Nuhns' five-year-old son, Spencer, has survived neuroblastoma.

"Cancer does not discriminate by age. My son is living proof of that and our legislators need to know about it," Molly said. "I want them to know that without the research and money raised, my son would not be with us today."

Both Hulshof and Bond said any cancer legislation is a priority to them.

Paul Larrat, prostate cancer survivor and ambassador, was a member of 13 delegates who met with all four Rhode Island members of Congress. The ambassadors spent four hours at the Capitol. They met three members of Congress on the Capitol steps and thanked them for their strong support: Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D.-R.I.), Rep. James Langevin (D.-R.I.), and Sen. Jack Reed (D.-R.I.).

Larrat also visited Sen. Lincoln Chafee (R.-R.I.) in his office. After their meeting, "He seemed genuinely interested and supportive," said Larrat.

The ambassadors asked their legislators to:


Complete the doubling of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) budget this year
Fully fund the National Cancer Institute (NCI)
Substantially increase funding for cancer-related programs at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
Commit needed resources to the new National Center for Minority Health and Health Disparities at NIH
Support and pass the Eliminate Colorectal Cancer Act this year.

Each member of Congress was given a model Celebration Bus with their ACS ambassadors' names signed on it to help remind them of the funding and support needed to fight cancer.

Around The Reflecting Pool And Tents

Throughout the day, ambassadors welcomed visitors to their tents and rotated to other tents. "It really is amazing to see this cross-section of America. The people here represent the rank-and-file, grassroots Americans," said Larrat.

"When you talk to them at the tents and listen to them, you realize these are the stories that we know in Rhode Island. Everyone here has the same problems, the same stories, the same hopes."

US House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R.-Ill.) came out to the Celebration on the Hill and talked to people on the track, said Larrat. More than 320 members of Congress participated. "It was a great show of support."

HHS Sec. Tommy Thompson spoke at the Celebration, as did Rep. Deborah Pryce (R.-Ohio), Sen. Sam Brownback (R.-Ks.), and Rep. Ken Bentsen (D.-Tx.). Large video screens around the Mall made the talks visible to everyone.

A number of members of Congress who were scheduled for an office visit changed their minds and came down to the Celebration, once the buzz started about how great it was, said Myra Bowen, manager of communication and media relations, Relay For Life Celebration on the Hill.

"It's been absolutely unbelievable, the whole event. We expected a great event, but it's been a tremendous event. It's like we've built a city here," said Bowen.

"We have made a huge impact on everyone here, on this city, on the whole country because of the representation," said Wilson. "Over the next few months we're really going to see what we did here."

Survivors' Walk

Celebration day started with the survivors' walk around the Reflecting Pool. Of the 3,000 ambassadors, 70% are survivors. Wilson said the survivors were five deep and wrapped more than halfway around the 2,300-ft. Reflecting Pool. Individuals from every state delegation walked at all times during the 12-hour Celebration to symbolize the ongoing fight against cancer.

At dusk, 15,000 luminaria were lit all around the Reflecting Pool in a special ceremony. A torch was handed to Gordy Klatt, MD, the colorectal surgeon from Washington State who started the first Relay For Life in 1985.

Thousands sat around the edge of the Reflecting Pool, stood in front of their luminaria during the ceremony as bagpipers played and a prayer was sung in English and Italian.

"There were lots of tears, lots of tears," said Wilson. "I don't think people want to leave. They are so enthusiastic and full of love for what we're doing here and for each other. It's really beautiful," she said.

Update - Update - Update - Update - Update - Update - Update

When American Cancer Society volunteers voiced their concerns about cancer research and application funding...

Congress listened!

Your message was worth almost a billion dollars in the funding level for the National Institutes of Health.

This year could have been a bad year for funding of cancer research and application programs, but Congress heard our message loud and clear during the Celebration on the Hill last fall and in the time since.

We asked Congress to finish their work on the FY 2003 budget - and they did.

We asked Congress to prevent dramatic across the board cuts to cancer research and application programs - and they did.

The across the board cuts that apply to cancer research and programs are only approximately point six percent.

We asked Congress to restore close to $1 billion of cuts to the National Institutes of Health in conference committee - and they did. The National Institutes of Health received the LARGEST increase compared to ANY other program in the bill.

We asked Congress to protect funding for cancer-related programs at the Centers for Disease Control - and they did.

For the most part, the Centers for Disease Control received flat funding -- but cancer programs were protected and increased.

Sincerely,

David M. Zacks
Chair, National Board of Directors

Links

The Office of Congressman Lynch
Talk to Your Legislator