ACS CAN and Relay for Life in Vermont are making integration look easy! In part because of our amazing Advocacy Liaison Jennifer Clark.
In Vermont, the month of June is signified by the color purple. Not only do the lilacs light up the landscape, but a veritable sea of purple Survivor t-shirts can be seen on Relay for Life tracks across the state, from Bennington to Franklin County. This June, cancer survivors, caregivers, family, friends, and community members alike, will walk together in Vermont’s American Cancer Society Relay for Life events to highlight the need for cancer awareness and to raise money to fund cancer research and prevention.
But, only a few months earlier this year, volunteers also driven to fight, prevent and find cures for cancer, were taking a very different walk. With a sloppy, snow greeting those traveling to Montpelier on a day in late March of this year, approximately 75 American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) volunteers meandered through the halls of the Vermont Statehouse in Montpelier trying to find the House floor.
Vermont lawmakers took time out of their busy schedule to recognize these volunteers and to pass a resolution honoring the new 5-year Vermont 2020 Cancer Plan. As part of the 2016 ACS CAN Cancer Action Day at the Statehouse, volunteers came from all over the state to share their cancer stories and urge lawmakers to support ACS CAN’s policy priorities.
Steph Taylor, an ACS CAN and Relay volunteer from Bennington, said, "Getting involved with ACS CAN and Relay for Life is great but putting them together is much more powerful and gives us a voice. The more people that join ACS CAN, the bigger voice we have."
Kathleen Hoffman, an ACS CAN and Relay volunteer from Franklin County, remembered when her father was a lawmaker in the Vermont Legislature and said, “All lawmakers have their own cancer connection and when their constituents share their story they will be encouraged to act.”
Volunteers like Steph and Kathleen did just that and as a result of their efforts, ACS CAN is able to celebrate small yet significant steps toward cancer prevention achieved during the 2016 legislative session. Victories include passing laws that: prohibit the use of e-cigarettes everywhere cigarettes are prohibited, require insurance companies to provide out-of-pocket drug costs, set nutritional standards for state office procurement and establish an e-cigarette endorsement fee.
Jill Sudhoff-Guerin, the Government Relations Director for the Vermont ACS CAN office said, “We were highly successful in our prevention and public health efforts, but less so in policies requiring additional funding.”
Looking forward to the 2017 legislative session, funding for investments in public health will continue to be a challenge, but Sudhoff-Guerin is excited for new opportunities that will come with all of the leadership changes in the 2016 elections.
“We have said goodbye to some amazing legislative champions this year,” said Sudhoff-Guerin, “But all of us are one degree from someone with cancer and so I am looking forward to making that connection with the newly elected lawmakers next year.”
Sudhoff-Guerin will be walking the track this June, looking for volunteers ready to raise their voice for cancer prevention next January.
After months of delay and hard negotiations, Congress has finally passed a funding bill! The bill includes a small increase for cancer research and prevention programs.