Two Minutes of Your Time Could Save Hundreds of Lives: Support Lung Cancer Research

Editor's Note: The deadline to ask your representative to sign the "Dear Colleague" letter is April 26, 2022.

The lung cancer advocacy community is coming together like never before. It is a beautiful thing to behold. Please do not miss out on this, folks. We are seeing an unprecedented movement, with more than 70 organizations representing cancer patients, veterans, researchers, doctors, nurses, caregivers, and advocacy groups uniting - with one voice - to ask Congress to fund cancer research fairly.

Now - more than ever - we need your support.

Use your voice for lung cancer advocacy

Will you please help? It will take significantly less time than it takes to get a Geico insurance quote. More importantly, it could save the lives of many hundreds of people. In fact, it could save your own life. We only have a few days to act before our window closes on April 26, 2022. So, please read carefully and follow these simple instructions to voice your support for increased lung cancer research funding.

Do not be intimidated by the process of contacting your member of Congress. You do not even need to know their name. The GO2 Foundation and LUNGevity have made it EASY for us! All you need to know is your ZIP code.

Here is what you can do.

Step 1) Answer the call-to-action

Complete this Call-to-Action form requesting $60 million for the Lung Cancer Research Program.

Step 2) Share on social media

Share the Call-to-Action form link on your social media. Be sure to ask your contacts to comment “Done” when they complete the form and ask them to share with their contacts.

Step 3) Spread the word with friends and family

Ask 5 friends or family members to complete Steps 1-2. (Better yet, ask 10!)

We trust lung cancer advocates will do this. That should be a given. But we need their friends and family members, neighbors and co-workers, doctors, and customers to TAKE ACTION! We need to significantly expand our reach!

Fight for lung cancer research funding

For those of you who have done legislative advocacy before, you may be wondering, what is different about this year? In a word, MUCH!

For example, we have an advocate who worked for years on Capitol Hill. Jill Morningstar’s eyes were opened to the shocking realities of lung cancer when her husband was recently diagnosed. Because of my work with the Lung Cancer Action Network, a collaborative association of lung cancer nonprofits, Jill reached out to me in January asking about getting momentum to ask Congress for increased research funding. Leading advocates and advocacy organizations - large and small - are working together to rally the troops to impress upon Congress the importance of this research funding.

We formed a steering committee from organizations belonging to LungCAN. The steering committee did its work, and after much thoughtful consideration, discussions, and deliberations, we all agreed to simply ask for the amount of funding it would have taken to fund the highest-ranked proposals of the Lung Cancer Research Program. That amounts to $60 million. There is more about the justification for this sizable increase from $20 million to $60 million within the Letter to Congress we sent recently.

We must come together to support this proposal

This request has become much larger than LungCAN. Organizations across the country recognize the urgency of this request and are asking to add their organizations to the letter.

This is truly a grassroots effort, and we need EVERY SINGLE PERSON (and their friends/family) to use their voice to support this request for lung cancer research funding. PLEASE!

If you care about people impacted by lung cancer, we urgently need you to respond to the Call-to-Action to request $60 Million for the Lung Cancer Research Program, part of the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program under the Department of Defense.

With your help, we have the best shot ever at making one of the greatest impacts for lung cancer patients through funding research.

For those willing and able to do more...

Here are other ways you can further this cause to gain momentum.

• Write a Letter to the Editor of your local newspaper about the issue. You can find a template on the LungCAN website.
• Call your Congressional representatives to discuss how lung cancer has impacted your life. Be sure to ask them to sign onto the Dear Colleague Letters!
• Share! Share! Share! Need content to share? Find social media templates and examples on the LungCAN website!

Learn more about the Lung Cancer Research Program

For more about this movement, the Lung Cancer Research Program, you can check out:

• Lung Cancer Action Network (LungCAN)
• GO2 Foundation for Lung Cancer
• LUNGevity Foundation
• Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program (CDMRP)
• Lung Cancer Research Program
• Find Your Representative
• Find Your Senators