Abstract The results cited within this paper indicate that the American Cancer Society not only is striving to meet their mission, but for every life saved, one more birthday is celebrated. The ACS main fundraisers are discussed, the history of ACS, the current position of the agency, as well as their successes and challenges they face. A FIGHTING CHANCE FOR MORE TOMORROWS3 A Brighter Hope for Tomorrow Everyone needs hope sometimes, but those with cancer need it the most. The American Cancer Society was founded in 1913 as the American Society of the Control of Cancer by 15 physicians and business leaders in New York City.
Cancer was deemed fearful and put most in denial back then, so a lot of doctors wouldn’t tell their patients they had cancer and out of those that were told, those patients didn’t tell their family members. The founders of the American Cancer Society knew that they had to raise awareness in order to save lives so they began to publish articles in popular magazines and journals, and posted information on a monthly bulletin, as well as recruit doctors from around the world in order to educate the public.
The Women’s Field Army, a legion of volunteers, was created in 1936 to raise money and educate the public. In 1945, the ASCC was reorganized as the American Cancer Society. The Society raised money for their groundbreaking research program and the cancer signals campaign, all of which Society-funded researchers have contributed to nearly every major cancer research breakthrough in the 60 years since their research program began. The American Cancer Society has invested $3. 6 billion in research (ACS, 2013).
The American Cancer Society began to expand its reach as an organization in the 1960’s and 1970’s and in 1971 the National Cancer Institution was created to help fill the gaps of the federal government’s focus on cancer prevention and education. The American Cancer Society has been working hard to save lives for over 100 years. The American Cancer Society is a nationwide organization that is dedicated to eliminating cancer by preventing cancer, saving lives, and diminishing suffering from cancer, through research, education, advocacy, and service (ACS, 2013).
The organization’s international A FIGHTING CHANCE FOR MORE TOMORROWS4 mission concentrates on the expansion in developing cancer societies and on cooperation with other cancer-related organizations throughout the world in executing shared strategic directions. The ACS is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. It has 12 geographic Divisions, more than 900 local offices nationwide, and a presence in more than 5,100 communities.
The corporate office is responsible for the overall strategic planning, corporate support services, financial management, information technology, development and execution of global and nationwide events like the groundbreaking research program, and the international program, as well as a 24-hour call center. They also provide technical support and materials to regional and local offices for local delivery (ACS, 2013). Offices are strategically placed around the country to maximize the impact of their efforts, and to be as efficient as possible with the money donated to the Society to fight cancer and save lives.
The ACS relies on over three million volunteers of whom some have leadership roles, while others organize special events, work in patient support, or education programs. The volunteer opportunities available empower people of every community to play a role in saving lives while fulfilling their own. Coaches vs. Cancer have raised more than $87 million to fight cancer (ACS, 2013). Relay for Life is another fundraiser where teams walk or run over a 24 hour period and usually there is one teammate that stays on the track the whole night to demonstrate that cancer never sleeps.
A few other fundraisers are College Relay for Life, Relay Recess, DetermiNation, Making Strides against Breast Cancer, and Cancer Prevention Study. According to Glassdoor, the average salaries for some general positions are as follows: a community representative is $38,450, community manager $38,127, income development representative $37,146, cancer information specialist $29,548, patient navigator $35,643 and a A FIGHTING CHANCE FOR MORE TOMORROWS5 director’s income is $96,233 (Glassdoor, 2013).
The general pay scale employees only need a bachelor’s degree and only require anywhere from one to five years of experience. Some of the top paying jobs such as a director may require a PhD, but not necessarily because one could have a bachelor’s degree with more than ten years of experience and get the same job (Glassdoor, 2013). One of the many directors at the American Cancer society is Aimee R. Belgard. She holds a B. S. with Program Distinction from The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey and a J. D. from Widener University School of Law. Ms.
Belgard was the chairwoman of Relay for Life, team leader of Strides against Breast Cancer, president for the Southern New Jersey Regional Board of Advisors, president-elect of the Eastern Division Board and she has held various volunteer roles with ACS. In 2012, she was awarded the St. George Award as a result of her volunteer work with ACS. She has served as New Jersey’s State Lead Ambassador for ACS CAN from 2006-2009 and she is currently a member of the ACS CAN Board of Directors (ACS CAN, 2013).
Some of the challenges that ACS faces is preventing and diminishing suffering from cancer by more systematic efforts to reduce tobacco use, improve diet and physical activity level, reduce obesity, and expand the use of screening tests that are offered. According to an annual report from ACS, social, economic, and legislative factors greatly influence individual health behaviors. The American Cancer Society has published Cancer Prevention and Early Detection Facts and Figures since 1992 as a resource in hopes to strengthen cancer prevention and early detection at the local, state, and national levels.
Cigarette smoking prevalence in the US has decreased modestly between 2005 and 2010. It is estimated that with smoke-free laws there would be 624,000 less deaths and it would save $1. 32 billion in treatment costs over five years A FIGHTING CHANCE FOR MORE TOMORROWS6 (ACS, 2013). There has not been an increase in mammography usage since 2000 which may be due to the lack of health insurance. The rates seem to be lower based on socioeconomic status and the lack of health insurance. The ACS strives to make every effort to save lives and end cancer.
They are a global grassroots force of three million volunteers on a mission to make sure that they are there to fight for every birthday that is threatened by cancer. The ACS saves lives by detecting it early or preventing cancer, they are there every step of the way during and after a diagnosis, by finding cures through groundbreaking discoveries, and fighting back through public policy. ACS is the largest non-profit in cancer research that has contributed more than $3. 5 billion and therefore they strive to turn what they know into what they do.
As a result of all the wonderful things ACS does, there will be 11 million people who have had cancer or have avoided cancer that will be celebrating birthdays this year (ACS, 2013). At any given time a person’s life can be turned upside down when given a cancer diagnosis, but with the support of ACS, these chances, these hopes, become stronger. The ACS has definitely been great at problem solving with the facts to prove that exact point. All of the research that is done is not only beneficial to those fighting cancer, but also for those who may be fighting that same battle later.
Everyone needs to wage a war against cancer and make sure that regular check-ups are completed and that every effort is made to ensure that cancer gets the short end of the stick. A battle won is one more birthday celebrated and for every birthday celebrated, there is more joy in this world, so let’s all stand up to cancer and fight whether we are the ones trying to win the battle or not; the more soldiers there are, the more lives there are that will be saved. Everyone deserves a fighting chance for more tomorrows.
A FIGHTING CHANCE FOR MORE TOMORROWS7.
References American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network. (2013). Board of Directors. Retrieved February 8, 2013, from http://action. acscan. org/site/PageServer? pagename=board_of_directors American Cancer Society. (2013). Who We Are. Retrieved February 8, 2013, from http://www. cancer. org/aboutus/whoweare/index Glassdoor. (2008-2013). American Cancer Society Salaries. Retrieved February 9, 2013, from http://www. glassdoor. com/Salary/American-Cancer-Society-Salaries-E4021. htm.