In addition to the more than 600 cancer patients, survivors and loved ones that ACS CAN had in town this week, we were fortunate to have three Division I NCAA Basketball coaches join us for Lobby Day. The coaches Coach Phil Martelli from Saint Joseph's University, Coach Frank Martin from the University of South Carolina and Coach Mark Turgeon from the University of Maryland are members of Coaches vs. Cancer, a nationwide collaboration between the American Cancer Society and the National Association of Basketball Coaches. All three coaches are in the middle of recruiting season, but they took time out of their busy schedules to share their personal stories and connections to cancer, and rally the volunteers to have a successful day on Capitol Hill. Coach Martelli even woke up before 6 a.m. to do several radio and TV interviews back home with our Pennsylvania State Lead Ambassador, Valerie Pracilio. In their rally cry to the volunteers, each of the coaches touched on the importance of increased funding for cancer research if we're going to defeat cancer. I wanted to share some of their powerful words from the rally with you here:
"We compete against one another to win games, but when it comes to fighting cancer we unite. Let's go get them to change the game." Coach Martin
"I don't see volunteers- I see heroes because you're doing things for people you've never met." Coach Martelli
"You guys are an inspiration to me. The work you're doing will save a life today." Coach Turgeon
After the rally, most of the coaches went up to Capitol Hill with the volunteers from their respective states and met with lawmakers to ask them to make the fight against cancer a national priority. We deeply appreciate the time they took out of their busy schedules to share their energy and passion with us in Washington, D.C., and their overall dedication to eliminating death and suffering from this disease.
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.