As I mentioned in my previous post, we were fortunate to have NCAA Division I head basketball coaches join the more than 600 cancer advocates for ACS CAN's Lobby Day. The basketball coaches - Mitch Henderson (Princeton University), Chris Mooney (University of Richmond) and Roy Williams (University of North Carolina) - are members of Coaches vs. Cancer, a nationwide collaboration between the American Cancer Society and the National Association of Basketball Coaches. The Coaches vs. Cancer partnership is celebrating its 20thanniversary. At a rally on Tuesday morning with our volunteers, the coaches shared their personal stories and connections to cancer. Each of them also emphasized the importance of Congress restoring funding for cancer research if we're ever going to beat this disease. I wanted to share some of their powerful words from the rally with you here
"At Princeton, we talk a lot about being a light bulb, and boy do I see a lot of light bulbs today. What you're doing here today makes a difference because people listen to you." - Coach Henderson
"I saw firsthand the work they did at the Children's Hospital in Chapel Hill. The work being done at Children's is being done across the country. We have to get the people on Capitol Hill to understand that what we're doing is fighting for our country." -Coach Williams
"Every basketball coach will tell you that we talk about bringing energy every day. I can see now a new standard for bringing energy." - Coach Mooney
After the rally, all three coaches spent some time with our volunteers on Capitol Hill talking to their legislators. We greatly appreciate their time during the busy recruiting season, their energy to make the fight against cancer a national priority with our lawmakers and their unyielding passion.
Mariah Forster Olson, an ACS CAN Ambassador Constituent Team Lead (ACT Lead), traveled to Washington, D.C. this week to share her story as a childhood cancer survivor and to advocate on behalf of other patients and survivors during the 2019 Childhood Cancer Action Days.