Today marks a very important day, it is both International Childhood Cancer Day and the first day of a month-long campaign on behalf of the client With Purpose, a youth and community-led movement who advocates for safe and effective treatment options for kids with cancer. We are ducks who dream of a day where there is a cure for cancer, and together we can kick cancer once and for all.
A team of five UO students (including myself) is participating in the Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA) to host this year’s Bateman Case Study Competition. The competition challenges teams of college students to plan and implement a comprehensive public relations campaign. In order to do this, we need your help. With the right resources, young people can do anything … even cure cancer.
Currently, only four percent of funding from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) goes towards childhood cancer research. For each child with cancer, on average, as many as 71 potential life years might be saved. Only four new treatments for childhood cancer have been FDA approved in the last 30 years. Families battling childhood cancer deserve better. We must rally together and unite as a community of ducks to address the minimal treatments available for children with cancer and the lack of progress to find new treatments.
From today until March 15, our team will address this problem through an on-campus awareness campaign, which will involve partnering with campus bars to hold sponsor events, working with professors to educate students and holding a final event on March 15 featuring speakers, from cancer survivors to researchers.
More about With Purpose
With Purpose launched its organization in 2014 to advance treatment for childhood cancer. The founders of the organization had no idea it would be young people that would mobilize their communities and shape what With Purpose has become. With Purpose advocates for families affected by childhood cancer, empower youth and community leaders to take action and invest in groundbreaking initiatives that remove the barriers to advancing treatment for childhood cancer.
It is our goal for our campaign to unite UO students in the fight against childhood cancer through empowering them to use their voices and create a universal awareness about the lack of funding for childhood cancer research resulting in little to no progress in treatments and the implications if it is not addressed. By introducing With Purpose and its mission of advancing treatment for kids with cancer, we believe that our campus community can use the power of young voices to create a game-changing effect for the childhood cancer community.
With Purpose tackles three main pain points: Lack of funding for research, lack of “proof of concept” research, and lack of profitability for pharmaceutical companies. You can find more information about the three pain points here.
In addition to the tabling event that we held today at the EMU Upper Amphitheatre, we will be hosting many more events to raise awareness and inspire UO students to take action in the fight against childhood cancer. For more information about our campaign, and updated list of upcoming events, and links to our social media profiles, please visit our website Duckswithpurpose.com.