CANCER AWARENESS INITIATIVE
The Notre Dame Senior Alumni has been very active in support of the Bat for the Cure, a national program directed at increasing prostate cancer awareness. But there is so much more the seniors and the other Alumni can do for our members as well as our communities.
In this area there is no cookie-cutter approach that the clubs should use. Rather the Club has to decide for itself the best approach. It will be a function of your location and the make-up of your membership. Each Club should appoint a Cancer Awareness Coordinator who will look for ways the Club can be helpful to the members and assist the Community in these areas. What follows are some ideas of activities a Club can use in promoting Cancer Awareness. These are not all inclusive. Clubs and elements within the Clubs can develop and implement many activities and programs that would make a significant contribution to this area, and they are encouraged to do so.
As part of a regular meeting invite Cancer specialists (local Doctors) to speak on the various types of cancer:
Depending on the Clubs usual style it could be a semi-annual or annual feature of the meetings. It is probably best done in conjunction with another subject.
In implementing this aspect of the Initiative it is recommended that the Club use Doctors who are members or non-member Alumni to suggest speakers and topics. These might vary due to the make-up of the club. A Club in a retirement location would have a different mix then a club in a predominantly metropolitan or suburban area, so the topics of interest might change. The formality of the presentation and discussion would vary with the Club style and the size of the audience. Generally a 20-30 minute presentation followed by a question and answer session is more than adequate. Often Doctors or local cancer societies have brochures or pamphlets that could be used as handouts.
There is nothing scarier then when a Doctor tells you that you have some form of cancer. Often times they matter-of-factly discuss alternative strategies for dealing with it and depending on the Doctor’s “bedside manner” this discussion makes an impact on you. But you are not out of the office 15 minutes and you have all kinds of questions.
This is when an experienced layperson that you trust can be very helpful. Many Clubs include multiple cancer survivors among their members. It can be real helpful if your Cancer Awareness Coordinator knows of these people and periodically alerts the membership that these survivors are available to offer assistance and guidance if helpful and wanted.
Bat for the Cure is a national program that seeks to increase awareness of Prostate Cancer. It is implemented primarily through Minor League Baseball with the assistance of the Notre Dame Alumni. Arrangements are made for various Minor League Teams around the country to conduct Bat for the Cure nights. Local ND Clubs send volunteers to these games to pass out prostate cancer literature and encourage the attendees to read the literature and be aware of prostate cancer in general.
The Program got its start in the 2008 season when 25 Local ND Clubs volunteered to help cover these Minor League Games. In 2009 Season 55 Local ND Clubs covered 63 different games. The ND Club of Harrisburg led the way covering three games. But just as that is a great accomplishment it could have been much higher since there were over 30 games in the hometowns of ND Clubs that we were not able to cover.
2010 should exceed the 2009 accomplishments. Bat for the Cure has been designated as an official partner of Minor League Baseball so the number of opportunities should increase and we hope we can more Clubs to participate. We are hoping to get the number of games covered into the 75-80 range. The procedures that are being used for the 2010 season can be seen in the Bat for the Cure, 2010 Minor League Baseball Guidelines. The current status of this year’s effort can be seen in the 2010 Bat for the Cure Status Spreadsheet.
In most communities, organizations sponsor Walks/Runs for a wide variety of causes, a lot of which are cancer related. ND Clubs are encouraged to support these efforts as the ND Team. If 20 or 50 club members show up to walk/run in their ND gear we both support the effort and give more meaning to the “We Are the Fighting Irish” theme that the University is using in the NBC telecasts of the football games. It would bring it into the local community in a very visible way. It is recommended that each club have two co-captains for these efforts, one for the running/jogging crowd and another for the walking crowd. And the captains would be responsible for monitoring local activities and getting the club involved.
In addition to participation as walkers and runners members of the local ND Club could assist in the effort by manning watering tables, checking people in, etc. Many times the organizations running these events are looking for volunteers to assist.
- SUPPORT FOR TESTING AND SCREENING ACTIVITIES
Hospitals and other public institutions often sponsor cancer/health screening activities. These activities often look for organizations to support them with volunteers. That would be an ideal place for the local ND Club to lend a hand. It would not only show our community involvement but would permit the Club to encourage its members to take advantage of the opportunity. As an example some locations have visits from cancer screening vans (breast cancer, prostate cancer, etc.). These represent an ideal opportunity to have the Clubs get in involved in meaningful Cancer Awareness activities as well as Community Service.
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