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Voices
Sharing Stories of Hope, Progress, and Answers Across Michigan and Indiana
v.5, 2006
 
advocacy

Update on Sharon Simmons: a Celebration on the Hill ambassador one month before the event
In May, VOICES highlighted Sharon Simmons, an advocacy volunteer from Fort Wayne, Indiana, who was part of the first Celebration on the Hill event in 2002. Celebration on the Hill is an American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network nationwide advocacy event in which volunteers, called ambassadors, travel from each state to Washington DC to speak with legislators about cancer issues. Now, a month before Celebration on the Hill 2006, Sharon says she is ready to go back to Washington DC as an ambassador.

Sharon recently returned from Washington DC, where she was on a panel to determine how Congress will allocate funds for breast cancer medical research, after a nomination from Society staff.

This month she attended a Celebration on the Hill 2006 training, which was the first time that all Great Lakes Division ambassadors met each other. It was also the first time that the three main talking points for the upcoming legislative meetings were revealed. Ambassadors will be asking lawmakers to:
  • Reauthorize and expand the National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program.
  • Increase research funding with at least 5% annual increases to the National Cancer Institute to sustain past progress.
  • Sign the Congressional Cancer Promise to commit Congress to putting us back on track to eliminate suffering and death due to cancer by 2015.
The training also covered the Society strategy called "hook, line, and sinker" which teaches volunteers how to tell legislators their personal cancer stories in a concise, meaningful way. Volunteers practiced writing Letters to the Editor, speaking in groups as if they were meeting with legislators, talking with media, and learned logistics of the event. "It was completely upbeat, everybody was excited," Sharon said of the training.

She registered to attend an American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network event called "CAN Opener: The Rally" on September 19, the first night the ambassadors will be in Washington DC. At the Rally, she will be able to mingle with her fellow ambassadors while enjoying appearances by Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, and former ABC News anchor, Sam Donaldson.

Before leaving for Celebration on the Hill, Sharon will be making a local legislative visit with a group of other volunteers to give her congressman an opportunity to sign the Congressional Cancer Promise. If she isn’t able to get a signature then, she will ask him to sign it again during Celebration on the Hill. "I’m hoping that every single representative signs on to the Congressional Cancer Promise so that increased funding and the desire to have cancer eradicated isn’t forgotten," she said.

Showing her enthusiasm, Sharon knows exactly how many days it will be until she can leave for her next Celebration on the Hill experience. "I think I’m not alone when I say we’re ready to go now...not only to go, but to have a good time. It is a celebration; we don’t want to forget that. We’re celebrating survivorship."

Good luck to Sharon and the 234 other people traveling to Washington DC from the Great Lakes Division September 19-20 for Celebration on the Hill 2006! To learn more about the event, visit www.celebrationonthehill.org.


 


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