July 14th, 2008 by Jeff Manning (LAF Staff)

I wanted to make you all aware of a release that we just put out.

For Immediate Release
July 9, 2008

LANCE ARMSTRONG FOUNDATION TO WELCOME SENATOR JOHN MCCAIN TO LIVESTRONG CANCER SUMMIT

AUSTIN, TX - The Lance Armstrong Foundation (LAF) is pleased to announce that Senator John McCain will address its members on July 24th at its second LIVESTRONG Summit.

“Cancer will soon be the number one cause of death in this country and Americans want to know how our leaders plan to combat it,” said Lance Armstrong, founder and chairman of the LAF. “Senator McCain has accepted our invitation to talk about his plans to further the fight against cancer and we’re very glad to welcome him. Victory against this disease requires a winning strategy and we look forward to hearing Senator McCain’s plan to help defend the 560,000 American lives we stand to lose this year alone.”

“The work being done by the Lance Armstrong Foundation is invaluable in bringing people together to fight cancer. I am proud to address the second LIVESTRONG Summit that will advance a critical dialogue in how we can better support the heroic work of those striving to find a cure for cancer,” said John McCain.

The LIVESTRONG Summit will take place July 24th through 27th on the campus of the Ohio State University in Columbus and will assemble cancer advocates, health care experts and elected officials from around the nation. Sessions will focus on grassroots guidance for attendees to help combat the disease on local, state and national levels. Featured speakers include Lance Armstrong, cancer survivor, advocate and two-term member of the President’s Cancer Panel; America’s 17th and most recent Surgeon General Vice Admiral Dr. Richard Carmona; Dr. Harold Freeman, president and founder of the Ralph Lauren Center for Cancer Care and Prevention in Harlem and Senior Advisor to the Director of the National Cancer Institute; and Stefanie Spielman, three-time breast cancer survivor, founder of the Stefanie Spielman Fund for Breast Cancer Research and wife of former Ohio State University football star and All-Pro NFL linebacker Chris Spielman.

This is the LAF’s second national-level gathering of cancer advocates and the second time the Foundation has featured Presidential candidates discussing their personal battles against the disease and their hopes to further progress in the national battle to defeat it. Last August’s LIVESTRONG Presidential Cancer Forum in Iowa was the first gathering focused on cancer of candidates for the highest office in the nation. Presidential candidates who participated were Senator Hillary Clinton, Senator John Edwards, Senator Sam Brownback, Representative Dennis Kucinich, Governor Bill Richardson and Governor Mike Huckabee. The LAF has invited both Senator McCain and Senator Obama to this year’s Summit to discuss the war against cancer and their ideas to ensure victory against a disease that will strike more than 1.4 million Americans in 2008.

Senator McCain will address assembled attendees on the evening of July 24th in Mershon Auditorium on the Ohio State University campus at 7pm EST. His appearance will be open to the press, Summit delegates and LIVESTRONG Army members.

 

About the Lance Armstrong Foundation

I will be leaving next Thursday to attend the LiveSTRONG Summit in Columbus, Ohio.  I can't say this was something I planned on doing in March when I joined VPL full time, although the LiveSTRONG experience has been very rewarding.  Combining the LiveSTRONG Survivorship Notebooks with the PBS documentary "Truth about Cancer" in April, VPL's Information Services department created a book display of relevant books and audiovisuals. Then in May we participated in the LiveSTRONG Day with a day long program on cancer entitled LiveSTRONG Day @ Victoria Public Library. In June I received notification of being selected as a delegate to the Summit. 

 

Though, not a cancer survivor, I have multiple friends who are and have realized the importance of good health insurance in fighting the battle against this disease. In low income areas, the choice sometimes comes down to whether to have an early detection test or putting food on the table for your children. This is not a choice a parent should have to make. Who will feed their children if they die from a disease that with early treatment would not have been fatal? So for the next week and half I will send blogs on the happenings of the Summit.