TOPSHAM — Local cancer advocate Diane Mitchell from Rumford represented Maine at the annual volunteer leadership summit for the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network in St. Louis, Mo., recently. ACS CAN hosts the annual summit to gather volunteer leaders from across the country and prepare them to lead grassroots campaigns on federal legislative issues impacting the fight against cancer.
ACS CAN, the advocacy affiliate of the American Cancer Society, is the leading cancer advocacy organization fighting to make cancer a national priority with lawmakers. Founded in 2001, ACS CAN has built a nationwide movement of advocates who are working to pass legislation and policies that help fight cancer – a disease that continues to kill an estimated 1,500 people a day in the United States.
Mitchell has been the State Lead Ambassador in Maine for the past five years and has championed ACS CAN’s legislative priorities with both lawmakers and other advocates.
“I am honored to represent Maine as an advocate in the fight against cancer,” said Mitchell. “We know what it will take to make cancer history. As citizen advocates, we need to take action to make cancer a national priority by ensuring that lawmakers are doing all they can to support evidence-based policy and legislative solutions that will help defeat the disease.”
As Maine’s SLA, Mitchell works closely with Society and ACS CAN staff to manage volunteer activities across the state. Mitchell also attends meetings with lawmakers on ACS CAN’s priority legislative issues.
Mitchell has been a dedicated volunteer of the American Cancer Society for more than 17 years, and has been involved in advocacy since 2000. In 2002 and 2006, she was a Celebration on the Hill Ambassador, travelling to Washington, D.C. with thousands of other volunteers to share her story, meet with Maine’s elected officials, and ask them to make cancer a national priority. In 2009, she won the St. George National Award – the highest and most prestigious award to be bestowed upon an individual by the American Cancer Society. It is presented to an outstanding volunteer in recognition of distinguished service to his/her community in support of the Society’s mission of saving lives from cancer.
At the summit in St. Louis, Mitchell met with her volunteer counterparts from all 50 states, along with national and state ACS CAN and Society staff, to discuss and develop legislative campaign strategies for the next year.
“We look forward to working with Diane over the coming year to implement legislative campaigns in Maine to make cancer a national priority,” said Carolyn Hammer, grassroots advocacy coordinator for the American Cancer Society. “Together we will fight for increased cancer research funding, better access to quality health care and preventive cancer screenings, and strong tobacco control policies both at the state and federal level.”
In addition to learning about legislative campaign priorities, Mitchell and the other volunteers will spend time developing ACS CAN’s nationwide electoral campaign, Cancer Votes. From now through Election Day, volunteers in nearly every congressional district will be informing candidates and the public about cancer issues in an effort to make cancer a national priority. For more information, visit www.cancervotes.org.
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