Cancer Picked This Fight

Inspiration blew the stale air out of an otherwise unassuming Texas hotel conference room. Bob Samuels, a determined civil rights leader for African-American bankers in the 1950s, sat in a stiff uninviting chair next to Al Austin, a powerhouse parochial school advocate and famed Republican fundraiser. The words from the woman at the podium, a breast cancer coalition leader, hit their mark – breast cancer advocates had just earned a massive win by creating a research fund within the Department of Defense. What about prostate cancer?

Progressives and conservatives like Bob and Al crowded the room. Prostate cancer had impacted them all and it was time to make a stand against a disease that, at the time, killed more than 40,000 men each year. With Al’s fundraising prowess and Bob’s ability to mobilize – ZERO (then called the National Prostate Cancer Coalition) fought Congress to create the Prostate Cancer Research Program at the DOD. Through the last 20 years, committed activists like Bob and Al have earned and preserved $1.5B in prostate cancer research. The results of our shared passion are remarkable – three new treatments for advanced prostate cancer in the last six years, and many amazing breakthroughs aimed at deciphering aggressive tumors from indolent disease. By working together, annual prostate cancer deaths have fallen by more than 35 percent.

In what is an increasingly uncommon occurrence in today’s America, conservatives and progressives will join forces again next week at the ZERO Prostate Cancer Summit in Washington, D.C. to continue our journey to ZERO. Advocates from all walks of life across the country will be the champions for the nearly three million American men and families fighting prostate cancer today; the heralds of inspiring stories from countless families who have fought courageously; and the heroes for the generation to come.

Just like Bob and Al that day, we’d rather be anywhere else. Cancer picked this fight and we will end it. BUT – If we’re to be successful in protecting research, we need you. You never know when the person next you can match your passion and complement your skills to accomplish amazing feats until you stand up. This is your fight too. Join us next week virtually, as we will live stream portions of our Summit. Tune in next Tuesday morning starting at 8:00 a.m. EST, details will be available on ZERO’s Facebook and Twitter.