Amercian Cancer Society -Our services are FREE, Your support is PRICELESS

The American Cancer Society Mission Statement: The American Cancer Society is the nationwide, community-based, voluntary health organization dedicated to eliminating cancer as a major health problem by preventing cancer, saving lives, and diminishing suffering from cancer, through research, education, advocacy, and service.

In 2015, Union City will be participating in our 10th annual Relay For Life (RFL), a year long fundraiser culminating in a 24 hour event of celebration.  Many UC residents are unaware of this event, or that it’s been happening for 10 years, or even what the American Cancer Society (ACS) will do with the funds raised.  During the next 6 month, I’ll be sharing the many things the ACS is involved in and the ways UC comes together to support this great organization.  

The ACS hotline - 800-227-2345 - is staffed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week by a real person.  They welcome calls from patients, their caregivers, volunteers looking to help, or anyone who wants to know more about the Society itself.   ACS can also be found online at www.cancer.org.  Below are just a few of the things I’d like to share...

ROAD TO RECOVERY - Volunteer drivers donate their time and the use of their vehicles so that patients can receive the lifesaving treatment they need.  As you can imagine, many patients and drivers develop life long friendships.

REACH TO RECOVERY - Volunteer, who are trained about breast cancer diagnosis and treatment, work one-on-one with breast cancer patients.  These volunteers are experts as they are breast cancer survivors themselves.

INTERACTIVE ONLINE CLASSES - Classes provide a quick and convenient way for patients and caregivers to get the answers they need, when they need them.  Classes are self-paced and topics include pain, fatigue, nutrition, intimacy, side effects and much more.

LOOK GOOD, FEEL BETTER - This program teaches people in active cancer treatment ways to help with appearance-related side effects.  The ACS office in Walnut Creek has a wig room where trained staff members help with .  A bit of trivia...the most popular wig color selected is red!

CANCER SURVIVORS NETWORK - This is a free online community created by and for people with cancer and their families.  Features include discussion boards, chat rooms, and personal Web space to tell you story, blog, post images, and much more.

So now that you know a little bit about what the ACS can do for us, please visit our RFL website; www.relayforlife.org/unioncityca and Facebook page www.facebook.com/unioncityrelayforlife and learn what we can do for ACS.

You can also reach me via email at jendudley345@gmail.com.