August 2009 Archives

      Hope is on the horizon, but the American Cancer Society's Hope Lodge Lubbock still needs your help. Show your support during the 38 Days to Hope campaign from Aug. 23 to Sept. 30 by making a gift. 

    Thanks to generous donors, the Society is within 5 percent of raising the $11 million needed to build Hope Lodge Lubbock. During the next 38 Days to Hope, the Society needs to raise the remaining 5 percent. Any size donation will be gladly accepted and gratefully appreciated.

     To make a donation:

• Visit www.hopelodgelubbock.org
• Call 806.792.7128
• Mail your gift to:  American Cancer Society, 3411 73^rd Street, Lubbock, Texas 79423.  

 Your Gift Will Make a Difference 

     Area cancer patients are postponing lifesaving treatment due to a lack of necessary housing and transportation. Each year, Hope Lodge Lubbock will offer 11,680 free housing nights to an estimated 2,200 patients traveling to Lubbock's health care facilities. Cancer patients will save an estimated $1.3 million annually in hotel expenses.

     Hope Lodge Lubbock, located at 3511 10^th Street, will be the first in Texas and the first located outside a major metropolitan area anywhere in the United States. The 32-room facility will include private guest rooms, a kitchen, laundry facilities, a dining room, a library, and a reflection room.

     To complete Hope Lodge Lubbock and sustain operating expenses, ACS must raise $15 million. To date, the Hope Lodge capital campaign committee has raised nearly $9.2 million.

     For more information about Hope Lodge, contact your American Cancer Society at 1.800.ACS.2345 or visit www.hopelodgelubbock.org. For details on naming opportunities, contact Mikell Bollinger, director of major gifts for the American Cancer Society, at 806.792.7128.

The High Plains Division of the American Cancer Society, serving Texas, Hawaii, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Nebraska and Guam, recently elected four new members to their board of directors.

Patricia Clapp, a leader in community affairs in Dallas, Texas, Mary Coyne, a leader in communications and marketing in Amarillo, Texas, James Hamilton, MD, a Kansas surgeon , and Rick Q. Ngo, MD, FACS, a Texas surgeon, will help set division-wide goals and provide insight and leadership to the High Plains Division. Each member is serving a two-year term on the 30-member board.

Patricia Clapp has an impressive history as an active volunteer with the Society and in the community. She has more than 40 years of community affairs experience and a strong background in training and fiscal management. Clapp has worked for the Dallas Regional Chamber of Commerce since 1987 and currently serves as the vice president for talent, education and workforce development. She graduated with a degree in English from the University of Oklahoma and completed postgraduate work from the University of North Texas.

Mary Coyne has an impressive history as an active volunteer with the Society. In 1980, while working as a reporter at the Amarillo Globe, Coyne was recruited to serve as the communications chair for the Society. She has since served as the communications committee chair for the state of Texas and then became a board member in Texas in 1992.

For the past two years, Coyne has worked to raise colon cancer awareness among African Americans and Hispanic populations in Texas. The two groups share a higher than average incidence and mortality burden from the disease. As the senior vice president McCormick Advertising, Coyne also provided media buying guidance to assist the Society in reaching millions of people with cancer screening messages.

Coyne received her bachelor's degree in journalism from Texas Tech University.

Dr. James Hamilton has an impressive history as an active volunteer with the Society. He served on the Society's education committee for four years and is the current chair of the Society's government relations committee in Kansas. Dr. Hamilton practices at Tallgrass General and Vascular Surgery in Topeka. Dr. Hamilton also teaches at the University of Kansas School of Medicine where he obtained his medical degree. His other services include the state chair on the Commission on Cancer, member of the National Commission on Cancer and cancer liaison physician for St. Francis Health Center.

Dr. Rick Ngo has an impressive history as an active volunteer with the Society and in the community. He has served on both local and international projects for the Society and has been critical in the outreach to educate Asians about the early detection and prevention of cancer. Dr. Ngo practices at Memorial and Katy Surgical Specialists in Houston. He received his medical degree from the University of Texas.

Among Dr. Ngo's many accomplishments is the nomination for the American College of Surgeons/Commission on Cancer Center's Liaison Physician Outstanding Performance Award in 2008. Dr. Ngo is serving a two-year term on the 30-member board.

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. As a global grassroots force of more than three million volunteers, we fight for every birthday threatened by every cancer in every community. 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. As the nation's largest non-governmental investor in cancer research, contributing more than $3.4 billion, we turn what we know about cancer into what we do. As a result, more than 11 million people in America who have had cancer and countless more who have avoided it will be celebrating birthdays this year. To learn more about us or to get help, call us any time, day or night, at 1-800-227-2345 or visit cancer.org.

One of the Original Kings of Comedy, #1 NY Times Best Selling Author for Act Like A Lady, Think Like A Man and host of the #1 syndicated morning show the Steve Harvey Morning Show Steve Harvey took a break from the spotlight to help the American Cancer Society save lives by encouraging colon cancer screening in the African American community.

Harvey, 52, underwent a colonoscopy at the Emory Clinic in Atlanta to check for polyps that could be cancerous and had his experience documented in a video diary for the American Cancer Society. The video, 'All Jokes Aside,' is now available on the American Cancer Society YouTube Channel.

"As part of the African American community, I believe this is a very important message to get across," said Harvey. "I too was afraid to get screened and made every excuse in the book not to, but I'm glad I finally did. I have taken a very important step, and I want this video to encourage other African Americans to do the same so we can stamp out colon cancer in our communities and most importantly, be around to celebrate more birthdays with our children and grandchildren."

In his video diary, Harvey expresses his desire to be around for his family, and stresses that colon cancer screening is one of many steps towards a healthy, long life. Harvey takes viewers through the screening process - from check-in to check-out, letting them know that being afraid is not an excuse. In one portion of the video, Harvey talks with his doctor about the polyps that were found, and is relieved to know they are non-cancerous. Harvey was back at work that afternoon.

The American Cancer Society recommends routine screening for men and women aged 50 and over and earlier testing for those at higher than average risk. Regularly scheduled screening can not only detect cancer at an early stage, when it is treatable and beatable, but can prevent cancer from developing when precancerous polyps are found and removed before they become cancerous. More than half of all colon cancer deaths could be prevented if everyone who should get screened did so.

For more information on cancer or the American Cancer Society, visit www.cancer.org.

Licensed cosmetologists and estheticians have been very responsive in the call for volunteering for the American Cancer Society Look Good... Feel Better® program. However, volunteers are still needed in St. Louis and across our states.

Look Good... Feel Better volunteers help patients improve their appearance using a 12-step program developed especially for women undergoing radiation and chemotherapy. They demonstrate how women can use makeup, wigs and other accessories to look like themselves again -- to restore their self-image, confidence and sense of control. Volunteers are typically asked to do one two-hour session per month.

The Look Good... Feel Better program was recently featured in St. Louis media outlets. For more information on the program and volunteering, watch our interview on KSDK NBC channel 5 here:  http://www.ksdk.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=182234.

Look Good... Feel Better is a nationwide program and there are volunteer opportunities in every community.

In St. Louis, licensed cosmetologists and estheticians are needed at Christian Hospital Northeast, DePaul Medical Center, St. Luke's Hospital, Siteman Cancer Center, St. Louis Connect Care, and St. Louis University Hospital.

If you are interested, please call (800)-227-2345 or visit cancer.org. Look Good...Feel Better is offered through a partnership of the American Cancer Society, the Personal Care Products Council, and the National Cosmetology Association.

For media inquiries in the St. Louis area, please contact April Dzubic, (314) 286-8187, april.dzubic@cancer.org. Media questions in other areas should contact (800) 227-2345 or visit