I went to Penn State. If you know anything about the university, you might know about THON, the largest student run philanthropy in the world. THON is a weekend long (46 hour) dance marathon that wraps up a year long effort by students to raise funds and awareness for pediatric cancer distributed through The Four Diamonds Fund. The Four Diamonds Fund is based out of The Penn State Hershey Children's Hospital. They support families, financially and emotionally, as well as help fund research to find a cure for pediatric cancer. And that's only the tip of the iceberg of what THON and The Four Diamond Fund do.
The purpose of this post however isn't THON (although check it out, get involved, donate). I simply want to utilize THON as an example of what the rest of the world needs to do! (I know, I'm going big here, calling the whole world together!) THON is about finding a cure. One of my favorite quotes over the years about THON is "one day we'll dance in celebration, until then we'll dance for a cure." The THON dancers are all students who worked to earn a dancer spot. While the entire fundraising effort is based off competition between organizations (frats, sobrieties, professional organizations, independent dancers, and more) to raise the most money, and receive more dancers the following year in most cases, that's just a part of it. The big picture is thousands of students who on a normal daily basis pass each other without even giving each other a second glance. Students who probably wouldn't be caught associating with each other usually. All working for one cause. While the mission of THON is to raise funds for pediatric cancer, the lesson for the world is the coming together for a cause and a cure.
The reason I, on my little blog, am addressing this issue to the world, is because in recent months there have been some calls to action/media attention that have me wondering why we make one cancer better/worse than another. Why one cause/life is more important than the next.
First up is the call via Facebook and Youtube to Oprah to do a show on childhood cancer.
The video is beautifully done. I loved it instantly (especially considering my ties to THON). The video stemmed from the fb group asking Oprah to take action and bring childhood cancer into the spot light. I'm all for this. The thing that caught my attention (I'm ready for the backlash for this) is when they site the amount of funding (via the National Cancer Institute) going to the various types of cancer. Pediatric cancers receive less than 3% they report. This is a small amount looking at the others they reference. The issue I have is perceiving the message that pediatric cancer is more important than the others. I don't in any way think a child's life should be anything short of playing, laughter, smiles, friends, ice cream cones and flying kites. BUT I also don't think a child should have to live without a healthy Mom because they are fighting breast cancer, or not play catch with their Dad, or have him there to walk her down the isle, because they lost him to prostate cancer.
The second issue that is more entertaining (simply how presented by Colbert), yet ridiculous if there is validity to it, is the claim that the Susan G. Komen organization actually trademarked and sued/threatened other organizations who used the words 'for the cure.' The Komen foundation attempted to clear things up and implied that the issue was blown completely out of proportion and they never sued anyone. (Their statement is here, and a Huffington Post article with sources saying they were threatened here... To give both sides as best I can.) Colbert, however gave the Komen foundation a 'Tip of the Hat, Wag of the Finger.' (video won't embed, but do go watch and come back!)
The issue is so tough to balance, and while I have no medical expertise whatsoever, I do understand that there are over 200 different types of cancer that we know of. Theses cancers are treated differently and affect a person differently. However, isn't it possible that if a cure is found for one it'll lead to more cures? Couldn't the competition between organizations to find a cure continue, but be focused on primarily finding a cure, not fighting over the same money?
This was tough for me to even attempt to address right here, and I hope it comes across not downgrading either of these two example organizations who are doing a great job raising funds and awareness. I think everyone needs to fight the fight. Everyone should get to dance. I just think we need to do it together. So I do encourage you to visit www.thon.org, witness thousands coming together to fight pediatric cancer, to fight for the kids. And if you feel inclined to donate to this cause please do, but if you feel inclined to donate and join the fight against breast, prostate, lung, heart, or any other organization do it! Fight for a cure of all cancer.
If you're still having trouble getting my point leave this post with this image: I'm standing on the stage and the announcer just asked me, a candidate for Miss America, what I would wish for, and I'm not saying pediatric cancer although I want it cured, I'm not saying bladder cancer because my Dad had it, or lung cancer because my Oma has it, or breast cancer because it took my Grandma's life. I'm simply saying I want cancer cured...
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