To the editor:
A series of recent articles and letters to the editor sent to Aroostook County newspapers from a local cancer group and its supporters has promoted the goal of a local cancer community center in conjunction with a local cancer organization. Their stated goal, of a desire to organize a center similar to one in South Portland or other areas, is certainly something that most people would support!
However, the coordinated way that they appear to be promoting the concept, while at the same time attacking the American Cancer Society and our signature event, Relay For Life, is very disappointing.
The articles seem to suggest that the tremendous work of dedicated volunteers and staff who spend countless hours making sure that the event is meaningful and successful does not benefit Aroostook County. The incomplete information provided also seems to be an attempt to divert the unbelievable generosity of Relay For Life supporters of Aroostook County to another organization – an organization with a far different purpose than that of the American Cancer Society. Sadly, the information provided neither reflects the depth of the Relay For Life event, nor gives even a close summation of what the American Cancer Society does, both locally and nationally.
For those of you who have not attended a Relay For Life event, I would encourage you to do so! The scope and success of this event has grown in recent years because of the impact it has on cancer survivors, caregivers, and the local community. It is a unique occasion that remembers those lost to cancer, honors those surviving, and brings communities together in the fight against cancer, all wrapped into an active experience that encourages exercise, fun and a sense of community. We can’t thank our volunteers enough for giving their time and expertise in organizing such a meaningful and well-supported event. Organizers and participants can tell you moving stories of survivors who feel supported and valued, of family members who see first-hand that they are making a difference, and countless other stories of people who wouldn’t have connected without Relay For Life.
Because of the popularity of Relay For Life, people rightfully want to know where their hard-earned dollars go. One unique thing about the American Cancer Society is our ability to have a meaningful presence in your local community while also supporting evidence-based national programs. While no charity can do all the things that it would like to do, there are a wide variety of Society programs that touch and are available to every person in The County:
• 24-hour toll-free Cancer Information Hotline (1-800-227-2345) – The American Cancer Society provides a nationwide, toll-free cancer information center with dedicated, trained staff that can answer questions or concerns 24 hours/365 days a year. A trusted source of reliable, data-driven, cancer information for EVERY person in the County and the nation, and the hotline is accessed by over 45,000 New Englanders each year. A cancer patient, caregiver or relative that can’t sleep at 2 a.m. has a person to talk to and will be listened to. Information about all of the programs listed in this letter can be found by calling us at this toll-free number anytime, day or night. Cancer never sleeps and neither do we.
• Cancer.org – The American Cancer Society’s website is a source of trusted, reliable, data-driven cancer information that people can access from the privacy of their own home. Website topics range from learning about cancer and its treatments, to how to stay healthy with prevention and early detection material, information on local resources available in every state, and much more.
• Hope Lodge (Boston and Worcester, Mass.; Burlington, Vt., and other locations across the country) – While not based locally, the American Cancer Society Hope Lodge in Boston provided free lodging to 50 Maine cancer patients over the past year, including people from The County, saving them more than $272,052 in hotel costs while they received treatment in Boston. In fact, more Maine residents stay at the Hope Lodge in Boston than patients from any other state except Massachusetts.
• Research – The American Cancer Society is the largest non-government funder of cancer research, including a $720,000, 3-year, research grant at the Jackson Laboratory in Bar Harbor. We have contributed more than $3.8 billion to research in the U.S. since 1946. In fact, no single nongovernmental, not-for-profit organization in the U.S. has invested more to find the causes and cures of cancer (46 Nobel prize winners have been funded by American Cancer Society). Research impacts all of us – wherever you live.
• Cancer Prevention Study-3 (CPS-3) – The American Cancer Society is providing volunteers, training, and making connections to ensure that the third largest cancer prevention study ever is a success. Past studies have helped prove the link between smoking, diet, exercise and other factors that contribute to cancer. For more information about this ground-breaking study and how you can participate, visit www.cancer.org
• Advocacy – The American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN), the advocacy affiliate of ACS, is the nation’s leading cancer advocacy organization that is working every day to make fighting cancer a state and national priority. The advocacy work of ACS CAN’s staff and volunteers has led to increased government funding for cancer research and prevention programs, stronger tobacco control policies and improved access to the full range of cancer care. In Maine, ACS CAN’s advocacy efforts have included supporting comprehensive smoke-free laws, protecting funding for local cancer prevention programs carried out by Healthy Maine Partnerships like Healthy Aroostook and Power of Prevention, and supporting laws that prohibit health insurance companies from imposing annual and lifetime limits on benefits for cancer patients.
• Transportation – Trained American Cancer Society Road to Recovery volunteers provide free rides to cancer treatment appointments in The County. In addition, ACS partners with the Amtrak Downeaster to provide discounted train service from any Maine point to Woburn or Boston, Monday through Friday, to assist Mainers with their transportation to medical appointments at Massachusetts hospitals and cancer centers for specialized treatments or to participate in clinical trials. In 2012, 595 Maine passengers used the Downeaster.
• Patient Navigation – This program provides one on one guidance and assistance as newly diagnosed patients “navigate” their treatment and care journey at larger hospitals in Maine and elsewhere. Specifically, we partner with Maine Medical Center Cancer Institute and Maine General Medical Center’s Harold Alfond Center for Cancer Care, to offer this service. Many cancer patients in Aroostook County have benefited from this program through their specialized care received in southern/central Maine.
• Living With Cancer Conferences – ACS hosts three conferences annually in Maine. In Aroostook we partner with The Aroostook Medical Center to offer the Northern Maine Cancer Symposium, scheduled for May 4 this year. These events offer information, hope and support to patients and families coping with a cancer diagnosis.
• Reach To Recovery – The American Cancer Society offers information and peer support to women and men newly diagnosed with breast cancer. We have many volunteers offering this service for patients in Aroostook County.
• Look Good, Feel Better – Local, trained, volunteer cosmetologists help women in Aroostook County cope with the appearance-related side effects from cancer treatment by providing free group sessions at the following locations: Cary Medical Center, The Aroostook Medical Center, Northern Maine Medical Center and Houlton Regional Hospital. Complimentary make-up kits are provided for cancer patients that attend the session.
• ACS Wig Bank – We provide free wigs to cancer patients in various locations in The County: Empire Beauty School in Caribou and at Houlton Regional Hospital. In addition, local volunteers will work with patients to access a wig in their community if they cannot make it to one of these locations. In 2012, over 200 free wigs were provided to cancer patients in Maine.
• Collaborative relationships with local cancer community centers — We have an excellent relationship with the Cancer Community Center in South Portland, Beth C. Wright Cancer Resource Center in Ellsworth, and the Patrick Dempsey Center for Cancer Hope and Healing in Lewiston. They offer many of our programs on-site at their facilities and we provide the centers with numerous books, educational pamphlets, information on local resources, and other information for their visitors.
This list is only a portion of what the American Cancer Society offers to all cancer patients, including those living in Aroostook County. I would encourage you to visit our website (cancer.org), call our toll-free number (1-800-227-2345), contact our amazing Aroostook County volunteers, and our local staff (207-373-3700) for more information.
It is true that providing financial support directly to cancer patients is not in our mission. We do not deliver bread to local cancer patients nor can we provide all the support that we wish we could, either locally or nationally. However, to suggest that the wide array of ACS programs don’t impact people in Aroostook County is simply unfair and unjust. The need for direct financial support to people coping with cancer can and should be considered alongside, instead of in opposition to, the valuable research, advocacy, and patient support and information provided by the American Cancer Society.
A couple of articles have encouraged people to “think outside of the box.” Exactly! That is what ACS has been doing since it was founded in 1913: developing national models for transportation programs, one-on-one peer support programs, Hope Lodges, and other services that benefit people in local communities everywhere. No other national cancer organization fights this disease on all four fronts: prevention and early detection information, patient support programs, funding ground-breaking research, and advocating for public policies to protect patient rights. Certainly local citizens are concerned not just about themselves and their neighbors, but also about friends and relatives that live outside The County.
For nearly 100 years, ACS has worked to save lives and create a world with less cancer and more birthdays. Together with millions of our supporters worldwide, we’re helping people stay well, helping people get well, finding cures, and fighting back against cancer. We have a presence in all 50 states and in more than 20 other countries. Alongside our local volunteers, we are all working together toward a world where no one, no matter where you live, will ever have to hear “you have cancer.”
We look forward to working with the CANCER board members and volunteers in a collaborative effort to support Aroostook County people throughout their journey with cancer.
Allan Rowe
American Cancer Society
Maine
