Mission Moment April — 2017
LUNG CANCER
Coming Up - LUNG FORCE Turquoise Takeover: Turquoise Takeover 2017 is fast approaching! This year we'll be introducing a new social campaign asking people to join #ShowYourLUNGFORCE, to demonstrate the power of our lungs and motivate people to take action in support of the movement. Participants can upload a video or photo to their social channels – Facebook, Twitter or Instagram—demonstrating how they show support for LUNG FORCE. Videos can show the contributors doing any activity that requires the lungs – humming, whistling, laughing, exercising or playing an instrument. We encourage you to get creative! We will ask participants to tag three of their friends and challenge them to donate to LUNG FORCE. All funds raised will support lung cancer research.
CVS Health Partnership: In its 4th year of supporting the American Lung Association's LUNG FORCE, CVS Health will again ask customers to donate $1, $3 or more at the register from May 7 – 27. Make sure to stop by any CVS Pharmacy location to donate and thank the employees for their continued support of LUNG FORCE! As the national presenting sponsor of LUNG FORCE, CVS Health is committed to raising funds for lung cancer awareness and creating tobacco-free communities to help beat lung cancer.
LUNG FORCE Hero: This week's LUNG FORCE Hero is Sandra H. Sandra is a long-term lung cancer survivor, diagnosed in 1989, the same year lung cancer passed breast cancer as the leading cancer killer in women.
ADVOCACY
State of the Air: On April 19, we released our 18th annual national "report card" on outdoor air quality. "State of the Air" 2017 finds that 4 in 10 Americans live in counties with unhealthful levels of air pollution, putting them at risk for serious health effects like lung cancer, asthma attacks, cardiovascular damage and premature death. Thanks to the success of the Clean Air Act, we have seen continued improvements in both ozone pollution and year-round particle pollution. However, the effects of climate change and efforts by the president and Congress to weaken the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) threaten future progress in protecting the air we all share. Read more and learn how you can help.
The Lung Association is fighting to defeat efforts to weaken or repeal the Clean Air Act. In addition to proposing massive cuts to EPA's budget and staffing, the Trump Administration has announced plans to halt efforts to address climate change under the Clean Air Act – as well as plans to reconsider limits on air pollution from new oil and gas sources. The Lung Association pledged to fight to keep these protections in place, including the Clean Power Plan, which would prevent 90,000 asthma attacks and 3,600 premature deaths every year once fully in place. The Lung Association has also weighed in with Congress to oppose efforts to weaken the science that EPA uses to set clean air standards and a bill that would permanently weaken the Clean Air Act. Please join us in standing up to protect the Clean Air Act.
Safeguarding Healthcare Protections. The American Lung Association strongly supports quality and affordable healthcare and we are vigorously fighting to protect much-needed healthcare protections for millions of Americans, especially the most vulnerable – children, the elderly and those with chronic health conditions, like asthma and COPD.
You can help us protect healthcare!
- Share your stories about why healthcare coverage matters to you. Tell us why it is important and what would happen if you lost it at Lung.org/healthcare-stories. Your stories will be shared with members of Congress to help convince them to safeguard basic healthcare protections—like no lifetime caps on healthcare costs and protecting against a loss of coverage because of a pre-existing health condition.
- Join us and become an advocate. Together we can fight for policies that save lives and protect lung health.
RESEARCH
COPD Foundation Collaboration to Enhance Research: More than 11 million Americans live with COPD. We're excited to announce that the American Lung Association is partnering with the COPD Foundation to improve the quality of life of those living with COPD. Through this new partnership, we will be able to enhance the Airways Clinical Research Centers recruitment opportunities and directly impact those living with COPD.
HEALTH EDUCATION
Asthma Awareness Month: While there is no cure for asthma, you can thrive while living with asthma. This Asthma Awareness Month, we encourage you to brush up on Asthma Basics and check out our key asthma support and resources to make sure that you are managing your symptoms and minimizing the triggers for you or your loved one. Asthma Basics is also available en Espanol.
SPECIAL EVENTS
Are you ready to do something for healthy lungs? If you are the kind of person who likes to get out and get involved with causes that are important to you – the Lung Association needs you! Event season is in full swing, and whether it's a Fight For Air Climb, LUNG FORCE Walk or other event, there's an opportunity for you to get active, have fun and raise funds to support lung health and lung disease research!
THANK YOU TO OUR VOLUNTEERS NATIONWIDE
National Volunteer Week is April 13–29, and we would like to extend a very special THANK YOU to all our volunteers for the hard work, dedication and support you provide year-round. Your involvement is essential in the fight for healthy lungs and healthy air. But sometimes words on a page aren't enough, so we invite you to watch the 'thank you' video we've put together. From all of us at the American Lung Association, thank you for your involvement and support!
EACH BREATH BLOG
Everything we do is made possible because of our great supporters, like you! Thank you for all you do to support healthy air and healthy lungs. You make our lifesaving mission possible, like the work of Luvette Baldwin and Stephanie Quinn, who were just honored by the CDC for their work with homeless or low-income patients with tuberculosis. With your support, work like theirs will continue!
