Volunteers are the key to the American Cancer Society's (ACS) goal of creating a world with less cancer and more birthdays. By volunteering with the ACS you become part of an organization that since 1913 has been dedicated to eradicating cancer as a major health issue. The ACS offers a variety of opportunities that fit your interest and schedule.
Volunteers promote and increase awareness about programs and services offered. Volunteers are needed to provide transportation for patients to and from cancer treatments and to coordinate educational classes for patients and their families. Licensed cosmologists are needed to teach men and women how to deal with appearance-related side effects of cancer, while breast cancer survivors offer one-on-one support to women who are newly diagnosed or undergoing treatment for breast cancer. Prostate cancer survivors provide one-on-one support for men facing prostate cancer. Yet other volunteers help to educate people about research and are working to enroll participants in a landmark study known as Cancer Prevention Study-3 to help us better understand the genetic, environmental, and lifestyle factors associated with cancer.
The ACS is always in need of volunteers to help in the mission to fight back against cancer. Society volunteers know that cancer isn't only a health issue; it is also a political issue. Lend your voice to the ACS's Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) and help make sure that cancer is a local, state and national priority.
Other volunteer opportunities include taking part in a non-competitive walk designed to raise awareness and funds for breast cancer research, education, and services called Making Strides Against Breast Cancer occurring in the month of October. Also in the month of March is the ACS's Daffodil Days and volunteers help package and deliver flowers and hope to cancer survivors and supporters.
Another way to get involved is to participate in Relay For Life and be part of the movement to change lives while celebrating cancer, remembering those who we've lost to cancer and fighting back against the disease. Be on the planning committee or create a team. Barb Phillips, who is the volunteer leadership council president in Warren for the past two years shares; "I have been on the Relay committee for 13 years and I also take being the president very seriously. I am always looking to improve myself and other volunteers as well."
The American Cancer Society volunteers combine a commitment to caring with a sense of community, partnership, diversity, relationship management and steward ship. The ACS thanks you for your interest in volunteering, and invites you to join the more than three million people currently volunteering with the Society each year. Together we can save lives and create a world with more birthdays.
For more information and to learn more about volunteering with the American Cancer Society visit us online at www.cancer.org/volunteers or call your local American Cancer Society at 1-800-227-2345 for volunteer opportunities in your area.
About the American Cancer Society: The American Cancer Society combines an unyielding passion with nearly a century of experience to save lives and end suffering from cancer. We save lives by helping people stay well by preventing cancer or detecting it early; helping people get well by being there for them during and after a cancer diagnosis; by finding cures through investment in groundbreaking discovery; and by fighting back by rallying lawmakers to pass laws to defeat cancer and by rallying communities worldwide to join the fight.