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local area spotlight The Wabash Valley Area Service Center builds community relationships The American Cancer Society’s Wabash Valley Area Service Center, located in western Indiana, worked with local businesses and organizations to develop positive relationships in their community. Because of this, the Society will have the ability to reach more people and was able to collect sponsors for their area’s Wall of Hope banners.  The Wall of Hope was part of Celebration on the Hill 2006, the Society’s Cancer Action Network’s advocacy event that brought nearly 4,000 volunteers chosen as "celebration ambassadors" and thousands of others to Washington DC on September 19-20, 2006. The Wall of Hope, a monument made up of 5,000 banners representing different communities, was used to demonstrate the nationwide presence of the Society and urge the country’s lawmakers to make cancer a national priority.Each Wall of Hope banner represented one community with two local and three national sponsorships and hundreds of signatures. The Society hoped the immensity of the monument, which spanned four city blocks on the National Mall in DC, would help legislators recognize the thousands of people nationwide who care about cancer, but couldn’t make it to the event. The Wabash Valley staff organized sponsorships for 14 banners which were featured at 14 different community events in the past five months. The events targeted topics such as: nutrition, anti-tobacco, physical fitness, cancer prevention, and early cancer detection. "The banners helped gain support for ACS and let people know what we’re doing and where the money is going. It validates our purpose and our mission," Julie Hansen, area executive director of the Wabash Valley Area Service Center, said. "The community is very excited about signing the banners and having their name on them." A partnership with Clabber Girl While organizing sponsorships, the Wabash Valley staff cultivated relationships with local companies, including Clabber Girl, a corporation based in Terre Haute, Indiana. The company, a corporate Society sponsor, is an international provider of baking powder and other food products and has been involved with the Society for three years. It also fundraises for Relay for Life and lets Society staff use its facilities for meetings and luncheons. Jamey Kirsch, Clabber Girl’s executive director of IT, was presented with an opportunity to become involved with Wall of Hope through discussions he had as a Relay for Life committee member. Clabber Girl was excited to be involved with the Society on the national level and decided to sponsor $500 for a banner (pictured above). It was presented at a picnic, where proceeds went to Relay For Life and employees could sign it, and at a survivor’s luncheon held in Clabber Girl’s test kitchen. This event featured healthy recipes and another opportunity to sign the banner. The Wall of Hope sponsorship benefited Clabber Girl as well as the Society. "Anything that you can do to get behind something as a group and get employee involvement is great," Jamey said. "Almost everyone has been touched by cancer in some way. There’s a common bond that helps build workplace relationships." The Great Lakes Division applauds the Wabash Valley Area Service Center, serving Benton, Clay, Fountain, Montgomery, Parke, Putnam, Sullivan, Tippecanoe, Vermillion, Vigo, Warren, and White counties, for building positive relationships in their community. | |
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