Sept. 18, 2009
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Notre Dame men’s basketball coach Mike Brey will take part in the American Cancer Society’s (ACS) Cancer Action Network (CAN) Leadership Summit & Lobby Day in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, September 22. A Coaches vs. Cancer (CVC) press event focusing on health care reform relative to the fight against cancer will include Minnesota senators Al Franken and Amy Klobuchar and Health and Human Services (HHS) secretary Kathleen Sebelius.
Brey, a member of the CVC national board, will join fellow coaches Tubby Smith of Minnesota; cancer survivor Ed DeChellis of Penn State; Oliver Purnell of Clemson; and John Thompson III of Georgetown (whose wife is a cancer survivor) as those slated to address members of Congress who will be in attendance. In addition to senators Franken and Klobuchar and HHS secretary Sebelius, Dr. John Seffrin, CEO of ACS CAN, also is slated to speak.
“It is an honor to have the opportunity to participate in this event on behalf of Coaches vs. Cancer and our basketball coaching fraternity,” Brey says. “So many individuals, in some way or another, have been affected by this disease. Growing up in the Washington, D.C. area, I always wondered what goes on behind the scenes. On Tuesday, I will see first hand what it is like to speak in front of members of Congress as my colleagues and I advocate for cancer research.”
Brey was the recipient of the 2003 CVC Champion Award, given annually by the CVC National Council and the National Association of Basketball Coaches.
Among the key points the coaches will focus on are: health care coverage that is affordable, adequate and available; early detection of cancer that will save more lives; and the enactment of heath reform that will improve those touch by cancer.
On an annual basis, ACS CAN convenes its top advocacy volunteer leaders (otherwise known as “the volunteer structure”) and staff – close to 600 people – for two-and-a-half days of training, networking, and meetings with their Members of Congress. The volunteers are diverse, politically and geographically. They embody views that span across the political spectrum and represent all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and each of the 435 Congressional Districts. Their political views span across the entire spectrum. This two-and-a-half day event consists of briefings and training sessions that bookend the actual Lobby Day, when our volunteers will meet with their Members of Congress to help ACS CAN advocate for health care reform, as well as for policies that secure investments in research and prevention; greater access to care; and improved quality of life for all those touched by cancer.
ACS CAN is a nonprofit, nonpartisan grassroots organization dedicated to making the fight against cancer a top priority. As the advocacy affiliate of the American Cancer Society, ACS CAN has a nationwide structure of volunteers who put a face on cancer and are working to ensure that all those touched by cancer are heard as lawmakers and elected officials make legislative and policy choices that impact the battle against this dreaded disease. ACS CAN supports evidence-based policy and legislative solutions designed to eliminate cancer as a major health problem and serves as a trusted source of information for voters who want to make informed decisions about candidate positions on cancer-related concerns and on key issue campaigns.