Wall of Hope Banner will travel to capital hill

The Wall of Hope banner is a way for the American Cancer Society to be able to make a statement to our Nations leaders. Every county that supports a Relay For Life will have a banner for people to sign. This will add up to 4,500 banners in the United States.

In September of this year all the banners will travel to capital hill and be on display to show support and awareness that money for cancer research is still in need.

Billy Bob Breeden with Windstream Communications is aware of the need and to show support. Windstream has made a $500 contribution to the American Cancer Society. With this contribution Windstream has their name on the banner. If any other business would like to have their name on the banner that will go to Washington D.C., please contact Paul or Terry Pierce.

The Wall of Hope banner will be at Pamida in Gallatin from 9 a.m. until noon on Saturday, July 29. The ACS Relay for Life Daviess County Committee would like everyone to take a moment to stop by and sign the banner in honor of or in memory of a family member, loved one or friend. Or just sign your own name. The committee wants to let our senators and congressmen know that Daviess County is working to fight cancer and to raise money for cancer research.

Pictured with the Wall of Hope banner, left to right, are Billy Bob Breeden, Kati Westcott and Terry Pierce.

American Cancer Society to Build National Cancer Monument in Washington, D.C.

National Monument to Cancer Patients, Survivors and Loved Ones To Reside on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., Sept. 19 – 20, 2006

As a testament to the spirit, courage and strength of the millions of Americans touched by cancer, the American Cancer Society has unveiled plans to construct a national monument to cancer patients, survivors and loved ones ?the Wall of Hope? to reside temporarily on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. during the Society’s Celebration on the Hill event, Sept. 19-20, 2006.

Supported by nationwide sponsors Discovery Health Channel, FedEx and Walgreens, as well as approximately 10,000 local community sponsors from across the country, the Wall of Hope will be created from 5,000 banners adorned with hundreds of thousands of signatures and messages of support from volunteers nationwide urging Congress and the White House to make cancer funding a national priority. Created to remind our nation’s lawmakers and policymakers that the decisions they make directly affect people touched by cancer, and that elected officials will be held accountable for making the fight against cancer a nationwide legislative priority, the monument will be a graphic depiction of the real people whose lives have been affected by the disease.

The Wall of Hope will allow those touched by cancer to voice their desire that Congress and the White House make cancer a budget priority, said Terry Pierce, Daviess County Co-Chair. "By memorializing those who have succumbed to cancer and celebrating those who have beaten the disease, we hope to personalize the nationwide war on cancer and the policy solutions that will help win it."

The Wall of Hope will serve as a visual focal point of Celebration on the Hill 2006, a nationwide event to educate the public about cancer, commemorate those who have passed away from cancer, engage Members of Congress and Administration officials in the fight against cancer and honor state policy changes that have advanced the Society’s mission to eliminate cancer as a major health problem.

First held in 2002, Celebration on the Hill is being organized under the auspices of the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network^SM (ACS CAN). ACS CAN is the Society’s nonprofit, non-partisan advocacy sister organization that engages in voter education and issue campaigns aimed at influencing candidates and lawmakers to support laws and policies that will help people fight cancer.

Demonstrating the unity of the entire nation in the fight against cancer, the Wall of Hope will take up four city blocks of the National Mall. Each individual banner will begin its journey to the nation’s capital at a 2006 American Cancer Society Relay For Life event. These unique overnight events, held in more than 4,700 communities across the nation, offer everyone an opportunity to take part in the fight against cancer. Relay For Life participants organize teams to walk, run or otherwise move around a track to demonstrate their resolve to eliminate cancer as a major public health problem. This year, Relay participants will have the ability to participate in Celebration on the Hill by signing their local Wall of Hope banner to celebrate loved ones who have survived cancer and honor the memory of those whom they have lost to the disease.

At the conclusion of the Celebration on the Hill 2006, each banner will return to its home community, where it will be displayed as a visual reminder that those lost to cancer will never be forgotten, that those who face cancer will always be supported and that one day cancer will be eliminated as a major public health threat.

The American Cancer Society is partnering with ACS CAN, its sister advocacy organization, to eliminate cancer as a major public health problem. Founded in 1913 and with national headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia, the Society has 13 regional Divisions and local offices in 3,400 communities, involving millions of volunteers across America. For more information anytime, call toll free 1-800-ACS-2345 or visit www.cancer.org. ACS CAN, a nonprofit, non-partisan advocacy organization, uses voter education and issue campaigns aimed at influencing candidates and lawmakers to support laws and policies that will help people fight cancer. ACS CAN does not endorse candidates and is not a political action committee (PAC). For more information, visit www.acscan.org.