Coach Ron Hunter to Team Up With Cancer Survivors to Call on Congress to Increase Funding for Cancer Research and Prevention
ATLANTA – September 7, 2016 – Georgia State Head Basketball Coach Ron Hunter will put rivalries aside and team up with other Division I basketball coaches and Georgia cancer patients and survivors in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, Sept. 13 to urge Congress to make cancer a national priority.
Joining hundreds of cancer-fighting advocates from the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN), Coach Hunter will emphasize that the federal investment in cancer research, prevention and early detection programs is vitally important to help maximize progress against this disease. The event is part of the annual ACS CAN Leadership Summit and Lobby Day, which will bring more than 700 participants, including cancer patients and survivors from all 50 states and nearly every congressional district to Washington, D.C., to call on Congress to support a federal increase in funding for cancer research at the National Cancer Institute (NCI).
The coaches are members of Coaches vs. Cancer®, a nationwide collaboration between the American Cancer Society and the National Association of Basketball Coaches. This group of more than 2,000 Division I, II and III college basketball coaches has made the commitment to beat cancer, raising more than $87 million since its inception to fund cancer research.
WHO: Coach Ron Hunter from Georgia State University will join with Coach Mike Martin from Brown University, Coach Brad Underwood from Oklahoma State University, Coach Jim Harrick (retired) from UCLA; Brenda Hamstead, ACS CAN Lead Volunteer Advocate in Georgia; ACS CAN CEO Gary Reedy and ACS CAN President Chris Hansen
WHAT: A rally with more than 700 cancer survivors, patients, caregivers and ACS CAN staff
WHEN/WHERE: Tuesday, Sept. 13 at 7:30 a.m. at the Grand Hyatt Regency Washington, 1000 H St. NW, Washington, D.C.
SPOKESPERSON AVAILABILITY: Coach Hunter or ACS CAN Lead Georgia Volunteer Advocate Brenda Hamstead can be made available for an interview prior to the DC event or upon their return from DC.
About ACS CAN
ACS CAN, the nonprofit, nonpartisan advocacy affiliate of the American Cancer Society, supports evidence-based policy and legislative solutions designed to eliminate cancer as a major health problem. ACS CAN works to encourage elected officials and candidates to make cancer a top national priority. ACS CAN gives ordinary people extraordinary power to fight cancer with the training and tools they need to make their voices heard. For more information, visit www.acscan.org.