WASHINGTON, D.C. – Oct. 18, 2018 – The American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network recently honored Woodridge resident Judy Rospenda with its Capitol Dome Volunteer of the Year award at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C.
The award is presented to a volunteer who has effectively strengthened ACS CAN’s mission by leading legislative and community action, assisting with media outreach, fundraising and training and motivating others.
“Judy is one of our top volunteers and works tirelessly to achieve our goal of decreasing death and suffering caused by cancer,” said Maggie Osborne, Illinois grassroots manager for ACS CAN. “She is an excellent connector and recruiter of volunteers throughout the entire state, and always seems to know someone who wants to help our mission. We’re grateful to have Judy as an advocate in her community.”
The award ceremony was part of ACS CAN’s annual Leadership Summit and Lobby Day, which brought together nearly 700 volunteers and staff from every state and almost every congressional district. Rospenda joined advocates in asking Congress to take specific steps to make cancer a national priority and help end a disease that still kills 1,670 people a day in this country
Rospenda met with the offices of Congressman Bill Foster (D-IL) and U.S. Senators Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) and Dick Durbin (D-IL) to discuss the need to support an increase in federal funding for cancer research. She also asked them to co-sponsor legislation that enhances patients’ quality of life and to support legislation that would close a loophole in Medicare that often results in surprise costs for older Americans when a polyp is found during a routine colonoscopy.
“Roughly one in three Americans will hear the words ‘you have cancer’ in their lifetime,” Rospenda said. “We need a full and unwavering commitment from Congress to take action to help prevent and treat cancer. We want our lawmakers to know that volunteers from Illinois and from every state across the country are counting on them to take a stand.”
About ACS CAN
ACS CAN, the nonprofit, nonpartisan advocacy affiliate of the American Cancer Society, supports evidence-based policy and legislative solutions designed to eliminate cancer as a major health problem. ACS CAN works to encourage elected officials and candidates to make cancer a top national priority. ACS CAN gives ordinary people extraordinary power to fight cancer with the training and tools they need to make their voices heard. For more information, visit www.fightcancer.org.
