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Contact: Lori Maldonado
Public Information Specialist
(303) 692-2028
For Immediate Release Monday, November 8, 2004
Colorado Receives Lance Armstrong Award for Cancer Prevention Efforts
DENVER—The Lance Armstrong Foundation has presented the Colorado Cancer
Coalition, which is staffed by the Colorado Department of Public Health and
Environment’s Comprehensive Cancer Program with a $25,000 grant for its
efforts in addressing survivorship and cancer in Colorado. The grant was
officially announced at a recent national cancer conference in San Diego.
As a tribute to Lance Armstrong’s inspirational fight against cancer,
yellow wristbands engraved with his mantra, “Live Strong,” were sold across
the nation in an effort to raise funds for the Lance Armstrong Foundation.
The coalition received the grant because Colorado residents purchased
171,190 wristbands, the most wristbands sold to date per capita of any
state including the District of Columbia.
Sara Miller, the program director of Colorado’s Comprehensive Cancer
Program who accepted the award, said, “This generous grant will be used in
Colorado to initiate a small grants program on survivorship and cancer and
will support professional education on survivorship in Colorado. The funds
will give Colorado a wonderful start to addressing, from a comprehensive
level, the needs of cancer survivors in our state.”
Miller explained that the new programs will be administered through the
Colorado Cancer Coalition’s Palliative Care Task Force.
Claire Schmidt, a representative of the Lance Armstrong Foundation, located
in Austin, Texas, said, “We value Colorado’s commitment to improving the
lives of those living with, through and beyond cancer, and we feel
fortunate to be able to help support your survivorship activities.”
Founded in 1997 by cancer survivor and cycling champion Lance Armstrong,
the Lance Armstrong Foundation provides the practical information and tools
people living with cancer need to live strong lives.
Schmidt said, “The Lance Armstrong Foundation believes that in your battle
with cancer, knowledge is power and attitude is everything.”
Miller said that nearly 10 million people in the U.S. and approximately
100,000 in Colorado are living with cancer.
She explained that the Colorado Cancer Coalition is a unique gathering of
organizations and individuals with interest in the prevention and control
of cancer in Colorado. The coalition dedicates itself to achieving
increased prevention; research; early cancer detection; and the improved
treatment of cancer for all Coloradoans in the coming decade.
Representatives of partnering organizations meet regularly, through the
Colorado Cancer Coalition to review cancer risk factors and mortality data,
share existing program efforts, develop collaborative objectives, and
identify and implement prevention strategies.
For more
information on how to get involved with the Colorado Cancer Coalition,
please call
(303) 692-2520.
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