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Start a Raise Your Way fundraiser today

​The platform empowers supporters to raise money for ACS anywhere, anytime.

Raise Your Way lets anyone turn an activity they are passionate about into a fundraiser for the American Cancer Society. This year, the Raise Your Way program has already raised more than $2M towards our mission. 

Anyone wanting to start a new fundraiser through Raise Your Way can get started on the Raise Your Way website. It can support: 

  • An event or activity of the supporter’s choice
  • General ACS fundraising (with no restrictions or designations)
  • Specific restrictions or programs, such cancer research or mission programs
  • Walk events including Relay For Life and Making Strides Against Breast Cancer

 Here's how to get started:

  1. Go to raiseyourway.donordrive.com.
  2. Select Fundraise under one of the available options: 
    • Donate Your Day
    • Create Your Own
    • Honor a Loved One
    • Let’s Conquer Lung Cancer
    • Fight Breast Cancer
  3. Click “Create a Page” and follow the setup process. 
  4. Customize your fundraising page and story. 
  5. Share the page with friends and family and start fundraising for ACS.

If you want to direct funds raised through Raise Your Way to a specific cancer type or event, please talk to an ACS staff person to obtain special coding before you start fundraising.  

Resources: 

  • Raise Your Way Quick Reference Guide: Step-by-step instructions for fundraising your way. 
  • Code your fundraiser to your Society Key/campaign: Complete this form to get your code
  • Adding incentives to your fundraiser: Incentives entice donors to give by offering a desirable item or experience in return for a set donation amount. You can create a single incentive or a set of incentives to choose from. Learn more.
  • Adding milestones to your fundraiser: Milestones are a great way to encourage your donors to give more by helping you achieve fundraising mini goals on the way to raising the total target amount of your fundraiser. You can tie milestones to specific actions such as “When I raise $1,000, I’ll dye my hair blue.” Mission or patient services can also be used as goals. Learn more. 

  • Dec. 4: Partnering For Life virtual gospel concert

    ​Please share on social media and join the fun starting at 5 p.m. ET on Saturday, Dec. 4.

    Volunteers and staff are invited to attend an evening of gospel music that will encourage Black communities and our collaborators to “partner for life” by raising awareness of cancer risk, prevention, and early detection, as well as bring attention to health disparities facing Black people. 

    The American Cancer Society’s Partnering For Life initiative will host “A Call to Action” virtual concert on Saturday, Dec. 4, at 5 p.m. ET. The show will feature musical performances by several well-known gospel singers and include inspirational, informative messages from multiple special guests.

    The 75-minute music event will be hosted live by actress Wendy Raquel Robinson, star of the revived hit show ‘The Game’, and spotlight previously taped performances by Jonathan Nelson, multiple Stellar Award winner and Dove Award-nominated gospel artist; Maurette Brown Clark, multiple Stellar Award winner and Dove Award-nominated gospel artist; Patrick Lundy and the Ministers of Music, multiple Stellar Award nominated gospel choir; and Dottie Peoples, Grammy Award nominee and multiple Stellar Award winner. The event can be seen on ACS Facebook or YouTube channels.

    “We are honored to welcome Wendy Raquel Robinson as a national ambassador for ACS and as emcee of our virtual gospel music concert on December 4,” said Tawana Thomas Johnson, senior vice president and chief diversity officer at ACS. “Her voice, those of our featured music luminaries, and messages of hope from our partnering organizations will help ACS have an even greater impact through this lifesaving work.” 

    ACS created Partnering For Life to share essential information and resources about cancer risk, prevention, and early detection. As reported by ACS in Cancer Facts & Figures for African Americans (2019-2021), African Americans have the highest death rate and shortest survival of any racial and ethnic group in the U.S. for most cancers. Partnering For Life is one of several ways ACS is working to advance health equity by addressing cancer disparities for Black people. 

    “PFL serves as a critical link in improving cancer outcomes and saving lives from the disease,” Tawana said. “This effort is helping reduce health disparities and creating better qualities of life throughout our Black communities by providing individuals, families, and organizations with relevant cultural assets and the latest cancer resources.”  

    Partnering For Life participating organizations include 100 Black Men of America, African Methodist Episcopal Church, Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., Black Women’s Agenda, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc., The Links, Incorporated, National Baptist Convention USA, Inc., National Black Justice Coalition, Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc., and Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc.  

    Help spread the word! 

    • Please invite others, especially those within the faith-based community to tune into the event.
    • A new Partnering For Life Communications Toolkit is now available on Brand Toolkit and includes messaging, a template press release, and social media posts you can use to promote across social channels (Facebook, Instagram and Twitter). 

    Learn more about Partnering For Life by visiting cancer.org/partneringforlife or email the DE&I team at inclusion@cancer.org for more details.


  • 4 U.S. Relayers named Global Heroes of Hope

    ​The class of 2022 is made up of 24 volunteers from nine countries.

    Congratulations to our newly selected Global Heroes of Hope, all from the U.S. There are 24 of them, and each one brings a face, voice, and personal story to the fight against cancer, as well as reinforces the importance of the work we do on a daily basis.  

    The USA Relay For Life 2022 Global Heroes of Hope are: 

    • Jason Masony (OH)
    • Keisha Pittman McKinney (AR)
    • Kristi Jones (AZ) 
    • Michael Holtz (TN)

    The names of all 24 are pictured on the image above. 

    The American Cancer Society Global Relay For Life Heroes of Hope Program profiles cancer survivors and caregivers whose work exemplifies the mission of their cancer organization and Relay For Life. These survivors and caregivers inspire hope, courage, and determination in the fight to eliminate cancer, display a resilient attitude, and inspire others to choose a proactive and positive stance on cancer survivorship.

    The U.S. has a domestic program called Voices of Hope. Each year events across the nation can nominate survivors and caregivers (through a nomination process) to be Voices of Hope. This group of domestic Voices of Hope are eligible to be nominated as Global Heroes of Hope.

    As a Global Hero of Hope, John, Keisha, Kristi, and Michael will be asked to share their personal cancer story and champion the ACS’ important work for various speaking opportunities, including outside their states. Each one will also encourage others to actively participate in their local Relay For Life event. 

    We can all agree the voice of a volunteer brings so much credibility to our work. A Relay connection combined with their story will be a powerful advocacy tool that ensures we continue to make cancer a global conversation.


  • 2022 Voices of Hope calendar ready to order

    ​It celebrates survivors and raises funds for our mission.

    The American Cancer Society Voices of Hope is a nationwide group of cancer survivors and caregivers who share their personal stories of their cancer journey to inspire others to support our lifesaving mission. Serving as a highly visible model of personal victory over the disease, 14 of our Voices of Hope members are now being featured in a special calendar with all proceeds going to support the ACS mission.

    You can meet the men and women featured in the calendar and hear their amazing stories of hope and strength during a live broadcast on Facebook on Tuesday, Nov. 23, at 9 p.m. ET.

    The 2022 calendar, titled “Once Upon a Relay,” celebrates the diversity of cancer survivors and caregivers, the journeys they each take, and the fairytale character each associates with the most. 

    Order calendars here. For a $20 donation to ACS you get one calendar, and a $30 donation will get you two.

    “The Once Upon A Relay calendar has been a fairy tale project for me, pun intended,” said Joe Gillette, longtime ACS volunteer from the Northeast Region. “My collaboration with members of the Voices of Hope survivors and caregivers has been enchanting. Pun intended again. At first glance you will no doubt get caught up in the color and creativity of each of the Voice's layouts. Then, on second glance, you will come to learn the moral of this project, that every voice can wield the most powerful tool of all – its story.”

    The Voices of Hope members featured in this calendar include:

    • Ashley McAuley, Houston, Texas
    • Becky Euler, Duncan Wakarusa, Kansas
    • Debbie Leslie, McDonald Alvin, Texas
    • Diane Denoyer, Traverse City, Michigan
    • Jason Masony, Medina, Ohio
    • Jean Tolley Grieve, Fort Walton Beach, Florida
    • Julie Turner, Vandalia, Ohio
    • Krista Lee, Elgin, Texas
    • Marcia Sharkey, Fitchburg, Massachusetts
    • Robin Campbell, Kingman, Arizona
    • Sara Thornburgh, Lebanon, Tennessee
    • Shelly Miller, Las Vegas, Nevada
    • Theresa Sells Miller, Waller, Texas
    • Tina Clower Atchison, Little Elm, Texas 
    • Valerie Frazier, Martinsville, Indiana

  • Survivors and caregivers are Voices of Hope

    ​They want to tell their story to help YOU!

    Voices of Hope is a nationwide network of more than 200 highly engaged survivors and caregivers who are selected and trained to tell their cancer story to advance the ACS mission. They are highly visible models of personal victory over cancer and symbolize the courageous struggles of all cancer patients and caregivers. 

    Through their stories, Voices of Hope offers inspiration to cancer survivors, caregivers, family, and friends, while encouraging involvement with the American Cancer Society’s fundraising events and other activities.

    Anywhere where an engaging cancer story can help your work, we can be there. Here are a few examples of what a Voice of Hope can do: 

    • Speak live and in-person at local events, such as during a luminaria ceremony, gala keynote, or Lobby Day.
    • Assist with sponsorship asks
    • Assist with recruitment asks or presentations
    • Speak live or pre-record videos for social media, tailored to the engagement needed
    • Provide photos and written stories for articles or print collateral
    • Assist with asks to lawmakers
    • Provide a personal “thank you” to sponsors and donors
    • And more!  

    Voices of Hope (formerly called Heroes of Hope) are great public speakers who have an engaging story to tell. Maybe it is a story about how they are a three-time breast cancer survivor whose life has been saved by a treatment funded by ACS, or how they lost their child to cancer and now fight for legislative changes in their memory, or how the Relay For Life community surrounded and lifted them up after a cancer diagnosis.  

    When Voices are selected, they are already engaged and experienced with the American Cancer Society. Once selected, they go through additional training on how to craft their story for different audiences, as well as make sure they are familiar with our mission and event programs.  

    You can get involved!

    • Help us find new Voices. Do you know a cancer survivor or caregiver who is a dynamite speaker with a great story to tell and active in the ACS community? Nominate them to be a Voice of Hope. Nominations are reviewed twice a year in January and July, followed by interviews, training, and induction into the program. We are especially looking for diverse Voices, Voices whose cancer story involves ACS in some way (stayed at a Hope Lodge, used Reach To Recovery, etc.), and Voices in some particular geographic regions, such as Michigan and Illinois.
    • Request a Voice of Hope. Let us know what you need and how we can help, and we will work together to get the perfect speaker for you. Even if we don’t have anyone in your immediate area, some of our Voices are willing to travel long distances and we are also available for remote and virtual engagements as well. 

    Visit us today at Connect.RelayForLife.org/VoicesofHope for more information, as well as the forms needed to nominate a Voice of Hope or request a Voice for your engagement.  

    Have questions? Feel free to reach out to Jennifer Braun on the United Event Support team, staff partner for the Voices of Hope program.


  • The Global Relay For Life Festival begins Friday, Nov. 12, at 2 p.m. ET

    ​Registration is now open for the 24-hour virtual Relay For Life celebration.

    The American Cancer Society will host the Global Relay For Life Festival in the ACS Virtual Campus powered by Virbela from Nov. 12 at 6 p.m. GMT (2 p.m. ET) through Nov. 13 at 6 p.m. GMT (2 p.m. ET). Relayers from around the globe will unite to celebrate, remember, and fight back. 

    All volunteers are invited to register for the event at Global Relay For Life: Home. The American Cancer Society Campus will be open to all registered participants.

    We highly recommend you download the software and create your avatar prior to Nov. 12. Participants will receive instructions once registered for the event. 

    During the registration process, each participant will choose a country/organization. All funds raised by that individual and their team will go directly to that charity. There is no fundraising requirement to join the Global Relay For Life Festival, however all of our cancer fighting missions depend on funds raised! You can show support by seeking donations and selling luminaria that will be displayed during the Festival. 

    The Festival will be focused on leveraging the energy that comes from the global nature of this program allowing partners to wrap up 2021 and kickstart 2022.

    Activities will include live music, purchase and dedication of luminaria bags, survivorship activities, opportunities to meet others from around the Relay world, interactive tools and games, idea sharing, and lots of fun in this virtual platform. 

  • Four USA Relay volunteers selected as 2022 Global Heroes of Hope

    ​The class of 2022 is made up of 24 volunteers from nine countries.

    Congratulations to our newly selected Global Heroes of Hope, all from the U.S. There are 24 of them, and each one brings a face, voice, and personal story to the fight against cancer, as well as reinforces the importance of the work we do on a daily basis.  

    The USA Relay For Life 2022 Global Heroes of Hope are: 

    • Jason Masony (OH)
    • Keisha Pittman McKinney (AR)
    • Kristi Jones (AZ) 
    • Michael Holtz (TN)

    The names of all 24 are pictured on the image above. 

    The American Cancer Society Global Relay For Life Heroes of Hope Program profiles cancer survivors and caregivers whose work exemplifies the mission of their cancer organization and Relay For Life. These survivors and caregivers inspire hope, courage, and determination in the fight to eliminate cancer, display a resilient attitude, and inspire others to choose a proactive and positive stance on cancer survivorship.

    The U.S. has a domestic program called Voices of Hope. Each year events across the nation can nominate survivors and caregivers (through a nomination process) to be Voices of Hope. This group of domestic Voices of Hope are eligible to be nominated as Global Heroes of Hope.

    As a Global Hero of Hope, John, Keisha, Kristi, and Michael will be asked to share their personal cancer story and champion the ACS’ important work for various speaking opportunities, including outside their states. Each one will also encourage others to actively participate in their local Relay For Life event. 

    We can all agree the voice of a volunteer brings so much credibility to our work. A Relay connection combined with their story will be a powerful advocacy tool that ensures we continue to make cancer a global conversation.


  • Meet the new members of the Society's 2022 Board of Directors

    ​Michael T. Marquardt will become the new chair.

    The American Cancer Society is pleased to welcome five new directors who will join the Board on January 1, 2022. They are:

    • Asif Dhar, MD, MBA – vice chairman/principal at Deloitte in Washington, DC, top left

    • Wayne A. I. Frederick, MD, MBA, FACS – president of Howard University, top center

    • Kathy Gallagher, MSN – COO Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, PA, top right

    • Connie Lindsey – head of Corporate Social Responsibility and Global Diversity & Inclusion at Northern Trust in Chicago, IL, bottom left

    • Othman Laraki – CEO of Color Genomics in San Francisco, CA, bottom right

    Our 2022 officers are: 

    • Michael T. Marquardt – chair, pictured in the smaller image

    • Brian A. Marlow, CFA – vice chair 

    • Mark A. Goldberg, MD –  scientific officer 

    • Katie A. Eccles, Esq. –  secretary/treasurer 

    • John Alfonso, CPA, CGMA –  immediate past chair 

    2022 re-elected Board members are: 

    • Bruce N. Barron 

    • Jennifer R. Crozier 

    • Carmen E. Guerra, MD, MSCE, FACP 

    • Margaret McCaffery 

    • Oyebode Taiwo, MD, MPH. 

    Continuing in service to the Board in 2022 are: 

    • Monica M. Bertagnolli, MD, FASCO 

    • Laura Hertz 

    • Amit Kumar, PhD 

    • Michelle M. Le Beau, PhD 

    • Edison T. Liu, MD 

    • Terri McClements 

    • Joseph M. Naylor 

    • Robert Winn, MD

    We would like to recognize and thank our 2021 outgoing Board members: Joseph A. Agresta, Jeffrey L. Kean, and Gary S. Shedlin for their dedication and commitment to our lifesaving mission. 

    For more details on the 18 directors and five officers, as well as their terms, review the 2022 Board Directory. 

    A press release will be available later this year to publicly announce our 2022 Board of Directors.  

     


  • We are ramping up our young professionals' chapters

    ​The first year of a three-plan focuses on 16 markets across the U.S.

    Over the weekend of Sept. 11-12, select volunteer leads from 16 of our Associate Board of Ambassadors (ABOA) chapters and ACS staff from across the nation met face-to-face in Chicago, home of our largest ABOA chapter with 150 members. (Our ABOA program is now the official name for our young professional groups for people ages 22-35.)

    Attendees participated in strategy discussions about board development, structure, and design, and they were challenged to think beyond a single revenue event and get more involved in year-round recruitment and our mission.

    This group of volunteers, known as Cohort 1, represented 16 target market areas:  Anchorage, Austin, Boston, Broward County (Fla.), Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Jackson, Miami, Nashville, New Orleans, Palm Beach, Philadelphia, Seattle, and Tampa. They are being led by volunteer Adam Schlesinger, national chair, ABOA, and Brad Wisdom, our director of youth and young professional engagement. We are forming a national ABOA board now that will be led by Adam.

    Engaging young professionals in our mission is a priority. There are nearly 49 million Americans ages 22 - 35, and 43% of young professionals contribute to health-related charity causes at least once a year, and health causes are the number one cause supported by young professionals.  

    Chicago was chosen as the venue so attendees could experience that chapter's Skyline Soiree. In its 14 years, the event has raised $3 million for ACS. It is the largest ACS young professional event in the country, bringing together more than 700 people.

    The markets chosen for Cohort 1 either have established chapters with events and boards already in place, or are new or revamped chapters that show great promise. In year two and three of this plan, we will add brand new markets. 

    PHOTO: Pictured in the front row, all the way to the right is Brad Wisdom. Adam is in the back row, third from left, in the light blue suit.
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