#Act4Impact Comes Together with Support

The American Lung Association has a long history of bringing people together to tackle the challenges of lung disease. When the COVID-19 pandemic began spreading, we mobilized, coming up with new and innovative ways to keep Americans safe. We launched the COVID-19 Action Initiative to expand the Lung Association’s ongoing respiratory research program, enhance key public health measures through education and advocacy and establish an advanced network to stop future respiratory virus pandemics

To raise funds for the initiative, we then announced our #Act4Impact livestream benefit, 

to provide free lung health education and masks to those in need, protect lung health by advocating for COVID-19 and flu vaccines in underserved communities of color and prevent future outbreaks by investing in respiratory virus research.

We also connected with outstanding partners who shared our goal to create a world free of lung disease. CVS Health stepped up to nationally present #Act4Impact, with additional support for the COVID-19 Action Initiative from Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), Merck, GSK, Sanofi Genzyme and Regeneron, 3M, UnitedHealthcare and Optum, Novartis Pharmaceuticals, eBay for Charity, Dyson, F.M. Kirby Foundation, Kindred Healthcare and Loann Crane. We are incredibly grateful for their partnership.

While the COVID-19 virus does not discriminate against whom it infects, the pandemic has exposed a deep gap in resources and healthcare access within Black and Latino communities. These underserved populations have been hit hardest by the virus, resulting in substantially higher infection and death rates. 

We continue to see the need to shine a light on racial health disparities and will be doubling down on our efforts to address and resolve them. The American Lung Association will issue national briefs on racial health disparities related to the pandemic. We will also address disparities in our testing and vaccine awareness campaigns, as well as through community partnerships and an advisory panel on pandemic-related social, behavioral and racial disparity issues. 

Sometimes it helps get the word out by also partnering with caring celebrities. We were very fortunate that QUEEN LATIFAH raised her hand to help raise awareness and funds for this cause. We are excited to share that on September 26, 7 p.m. ET, on Facebook Live, QUEEN LATIFAH will host our star-studded livestream benefit, nationally presented by CVS Health, to support the American Lung Association's COVID-19 Action Initiative. In turn, she reached out to other well-known talents, who will generously offer their time. Some of our celebrity partners include Laura Dern, Jimmy Fallon, Vivica A. Fox, Katherine McPhee, Keke Palmer, Questlove, Gabrielle Union, Dwyane Wade, just to name a few. 

We hope you will join us on September 26, 7 p.m. ET on Facebook Live for this amazing event. You can see an updated list of talent and learn more at Lung.org/act4impact.