Non-Profit of the Week: Stand Up To Cancer

It's 3:30p.m. The home stretch til five and you probably deserve a good stretch of your legs.

Here's another reason to stand up.

For as long as any of us can remember, a cure for cancer seemed unattainable. Finding a cure for cancer has been like untwisting a huge knot. However, there have been three recent developments that, when aligned, may help us to unravel this huge knot. Technology has helped scientists discover what causes a cell to become malignant which in turn has developed new therapeutics that have effects similar to that of the breakthrough of anti-HIV drugs. These therapeutics will convert the disease into a chronic, manageable medical problem and in the future, they will increase cure and prevention opportunities. I believe "on the cusp" is the best way to explain where we are in finding a cure.

Problem though. The research foundations need substantial funding to develop these therapeutics; funding from up until recently was mostly provided by the government. However recent declines in federal funding have posed a problem. That's where SU2C (Stand up to Cancer) comes in. SU2C is a foundation working to secure and expedite the efforts made in researching a cure. They were founded on the belief that we have sufficient knowledge to develop better ways to treat cancer patients and to prevent cancer altogether. With money raised, SU2C will give the American Association for Cancer Research grants to distribute to "Dream Teams" consisting of scientists, clinicians, technicians and other experts, who will focus on a specific cancer problem. They'll their progress in real time, so that everyone who invests can see how their participation is creating real change.

So where do we come into play. Visit the web-site first at http://www.standup2cancer.org/ and see for yourself. Visit the Constellation, a space area in which you can donate money and dedicate a chosen star for someone you may know who has had cancer. In The Stand, a community experience where you can share your connection to cancer. And on Sept 5, ABC, CBS, and NBC have teamed up to donate an hour of prime time TV for an interactive entertainment special (loads of celebs will be there) to unite everyone to stand up for a cure. So stand up, because if a cure of cancer is found (well, actually WHEN it's found), you're going to want to have had a hand in it.