Ever wonder what happens with your contribution to the American Cancer Society?

With your help, we save lives.

The American Cancer Society offers free lodging for those cancer patients who receive treatment far from home. It is called Hope Lodge, and there are three of them in New England – Boston and Worcester, MA and Burlington, VT. In 2010, a total of 120 Maine patients stayed at the Boston Hope Lodge with a total of 2,921 free nights. Since they did not pay for lodging that is an estimated savings of $535,000. Excluding Massachusetts, Maine patients received more free nights than any other state. Money raised at Relay For Life helps support Maine families who stay at Hope Lodge.

The American Cancer Society offers a free summer camp for children ages 4 to 18 who have been diagnosed with cancer, and their families. There are three camps in New England, including Camp Rainbow in Maine. When asked what they liked most about Camp Rainbow, many participants remarked that they like how everyone cares about everyone else and how they were able to share their thoughts with others who have experienced cancer. When asked what they like least about camp, the general consensus was, “It wasn’t long enough!” Money raised at Relay For Life helps support Camp Rainbow which is celebrating its 24th year in 2011 of offering this free service for kids and their families.

Cancer resource centers in community hospitals provided state-of-the-art information and referrals to cancer patients and their families. Currently, there are five cancer resource centers in Maine: Mid Coast Hospital, Brunswick; Mercy Hospital, Portland; St. Mary’s Hospital, Lewiston; Harold Alfond Center for Cancer Care, Augusta; and EMMC’s Cancer Care of Maine, Bangor. Money raised at Relay For Life helps support these valuable resource centers in Maine.

Last year, over 40,000 New Englanders dialed the Society’s toll-free number for comprehensive information and services. This cancer hotline is the only one of its type in the world and is available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Nationwide, someone calls the American Cancer Society every 30 seconds! Money raised at Relay For Life helps support this important resource for cancer patients and their loved ones.

Cancer patients with complex needs often struggle to access support services. Hospital-based American Cancer Society Patient Navigators are being deployed in many locations across New England to guide patients to social and emotional support, transportation, and medical and financial assistance services. Maine has two Patient Navigators – one is located at Maine Medical Center’s Cancer Institute, and the other at the Harold Alfond Center for Cancer Care in Augusta. Money raised at Relay For Life helps support Maine’s patient navigator program. Since the Patient Navigator program began, 2,100 cancer patients have been helped with requests for assistance.

Maine offers three Living With Cancer Conferences held at Augusta, Bar Harbor, and Presque Isle. The 33rd annual Living With Cancer Conference, held on May 4 in Augusta, is the longest running survivor conference of its type in the country. It is offered free to cancer patients and survivors, and money raised at Relay For Life helps support these amazing events.

The American Cancer Society is the larges private funder of cancer research in the world. To date, the Society has invested $3.5 billion in cancer research, including $484 million in grants currently in effect. In New England institutions alone, the Society is currently funding 139 researchers with $60.5 million in grants. A researcher at the Jackson Laboratory is currently funded with a three-year, $720,000 grant to study brain cancer. Maine has the highest incidence rate for brain tumors in the U.S.

Since 1960, the American Cancer Society has given over $3 million in grants to Maine research institutions.

Since 1946, when the Society began funding research, Maine has received more than $9 million in grants.

Society-funded Maine research facilities include Jackson Laboratory, Maine Medical Center, and UMaine Orono.

The American Cancer Society has a history of funding scientists early in their careers. Two ACS-funded researchers at the Jackson Laboratory went on later in their careers to receive Nobel Prizes.

In addition to ACS grants, the Society’s advocacy efforts have been successful in helping to secure federal cancer research and prevention dollars from National Cancer Institutes and Center for Disease Control for Maine research facilities. In 2010, the Society helped secure $71.4 million in NIH funding for Maine organizations including: Bowdoin College, Maine Medical Center, UNE, USM, Jackson Laboratory, Mt. Desert Island Biological Lab, UMaine Orono, Bates College, and Collinge & Associates in Kittery.

Money raised at Relay For Life helps fund life-saving research in Maine, New England, and in other states where important research breakthroughs will benefit Maine cancer patients.

From another perspective, if your community could not afford to donate to the American Cancer Society, the programs and services would still be there because the Society is committed on a local, state, and nationwide basis to eliminating cancer as a major health concern. Cancer knows no boundaries, so funds are put where the need is greatest: in your neighborhood, at one of Maine’s cancer centers, or perhaps in the lab of a researcher at Yale or MIT who will unlock the mystery of cancer cell replication and save the life of someone you love. Bottom line: The more money you raise, the more likely the Society is able to help make breakthroughs in the fight to end cancer; and that impacts everyone, everywhere.

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