Tuesday's event to launch the One Degree Project on Capitol Hill was such a success that I'm still in awe today. We had a room full of celebrities, lawmakers, partners from the cancer community and passionate advocates from every state all calling on Congress to increase cancer research funding. As I wrote about last week, the One Degree Project is an unprecedented joint effort between ACS CAN and Stand Up To Cancer to save more lives from cancer by increasing medical research funding at the National Institutes of Health by $6 billion over two years, including $1 billion for cancer research at the National Cancer Institute (NCI). This accounts for the 24 percent decrease in funding for medical research since 2003, which has halted promising clinical trials and dried up the grant pool relied upon by researchers. But what the One Degree Project is really about is stories: patient stories, caregiver stories, stories of those who are here today thanks to cancer research. We were fortunate to hear such stories at the launch event from a former James Bond, an NBA Hall of Famer and a Desperate Housewife. What follows are quotes and pictures from our incredible event that I wanted to highlight.
This is thrilling work to know that we are getting closer to that day we dream about when all cancer patients become cancer survivors. We can't reach that glorious day by ourselves. All of our hearts and minds and love aren't enough. To achieve our dream, we need an investment in research and innovation on a level of effort that only the government can afford." - Pierce Brosnan
"If research had slowed down or stopped after the development of one treatment and not the other, I can't guarantee my disease would not have progressed. Instead I'm sharing my story with others so they know that they're not alone. There is hope and many of us with cancer are truly living full and productive lives." - Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
"I have been one degree away from cancer for most of my adult life. My husband was diagnosed with throat cancer shortly after our twin daughters were born. I wake up every morning grateful that he has been cancer-free for five years now." - Marcia Cross
"Because of cancer research, I now have hope of seeing more birthdays of my 33-year old son Jamal and many precious milestones of his son Seneca, 4, who is my grandson. You see, one of the motivations behind my concern and support for cancer research funding is not just because of the value added and longevity to my life and the millions of others but I am also championing this important cause of increased cancer research funding so that my Grandson Seneca doesn't have to hear in his lifetime those horrible words: 'You have cancer!'" - Thelma Jones
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.