Help us remind Vice President Biden that children face cancer too!
Vice President Joe Biden
Last night, in his final State of the Union address to Congress, President Barack Obama made a loud and clear call to the nation to come together to fight cancer in all its many forms. For Vice President Joseph Biden, who has been pushing for such a national initiative since the passing of his son, at the age of 46 from brain cancer last year, we are at a watershed moment in this long and difficult battle. Just as President Kennedy inspired our nation to send a man to the moon, Mr. Biden believes that now is the time for a new “moonshot” that will inspire today’s scientists to come together and push even harder to finally find a cure for this deadly disease.
At the American Childhood Cancer Organization (ACCO) and throughout the childhood cancer community, we could not be more excited or more supportive of Vice President Biden’s “moonshot” to cure cancer. No one knows better than us, the parents of children who have faced this deadly disease, just how devastating cancer is to children and their families. And no one knows better than us the critical importance of federal funding for new and better childhood cancer treatments. Indeed, this year, 1 out of every 285 children under the age of 20 will be diagnosed with cancer, and of those, the majority will be treated with toxic drugs that were developed more than 25 years ago. Never has the need been greater to develop new therapies to treat America’s youngest cancer patients.
No one stands to benefit more from this new “moonshot” than cancer’s youngest, bravest victims.
As the largest national and grassroots childhood cancer advocacy non-profit in the United States which after more than 45 years is still directed by childhood cancer parents and survivors of childhood cancer victims, the ACCO has a personal mission to fight this terrible disease.
In the words of ACCO’s Executive Director Ruth Hoffman:
As a father who lost his precious son to this disease, Vice President Biden knows the heartache that only a parent truly understands when they hear the words, “Your child has cancer.” Each year in America there are approximately 16,000 families who hear the words that their little children are diagnosed with this life-threatening disease and sadly one of every four of those children will die. ACCO looks forward to working alongside the White House on this essential cancer initiative, to continuing our work with Congress to pass the Childhood Cancer STAR Act (Survivorship, Treatment, Research and Access), and to reach for the day when no parent in this country has to look to the “moon” to say good-night to their child.
Like Mr. Biden, we also understand the pain that comes from losing a child to cancer. And like Mr. Biden, we know all too well the critical importance of the need to devote national resources to fighting cancer in all its forms, including all forms of childhood cancer.
You can be a part of this new “moonshot” by reminding Mr. Biden that the children need his help too!
Mr. Biden has asked everyone, across the nation, to let him know our stories, to let him know why this initiative is important to us. He is certain to hear from thousands, even millions, of adults who have faced this dreaded disease. But it is our job to give voices to the tens of thousands of children who cannot speak for themselves. It is our job to tell the stories of the children who have bravely faced this disease and survived and to honor those children who did not. It is our job to tell the stories of the children who continue to face serious long-term risks to their health due to today’s toxic and outdated treatment protocols. It is our job to remind Mr. Biden that children get cancer too.
We encourage you to contact Mr. Biden directly, let your child’s voice be heard, and remind him just how critical this initiative, this “moonshot”, is to you and your family.
Click HERE to send Mr. Biden a message about how cancer has changed your life and the life of your child forever.
We hope that this loud and clear call will bring us closer to winning the fight against childhood cancer.
We hope that this national initiative will bring the breakthroughs needed to give every child battling this disease the successful treatment they need.
We hope that this critical movement means that someday, no parent will have to watch their child die from childhood cancer.
Because kids can’t fight cancer alone.®
For more information about the American Childhood Cancer Organization and how we can help you cope with the loss of a child to childhood cancer, call 855.858.2226 or visit:
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