NOVEMBER FLOWERS

November Flowers

The month of November is the official/un-official, depending who you speak to, “Lung Cancer Awareness Month.” All across the country there are groups of all sizes that have banded together to form different organizations all in the name of raising awareness for their cause whether it’s breast cancer, prostate cancer, colon cancer, heart disease, or in our case lung cancer. All non-profit cancer organizations have similar things in common. The most prevalent of these commonalities is usually a group of dedicated volunteers working hard to help raise awareness for their "cause," they are the driving force behind all efforts. People flock to a cause and give their time because they have been affected in some way and want to give back. People who believe in their cause and are willing to give their time, talent and efforts to support it, are nothing short of a force to be reckoned with. The creativity produced by a group of these types of individuals is invaluable as we strive to meet the goals set forth by our individual organizations.

So many of our lives have been altered in one way or another by diseases such as lung cancer that either have struck us personally or have befallen the people close to us. It is safe to say that over the course of our lifetimes we will all feel the effects of a life altering disease. Our best line of defense is to become proactive towards finding cures for the various diseases we are advocates of.  The only true way to win against lung cancer for instance is to end it before it begins. In order to do that we must continue to raise awareness and seek funding to help researchers and scientists in finding a cure. We also must be careful not become satisfied with pharmaceutical answers that treat symptoms but fall short of curing. As an organization we must stay focused on our goals and keeping our volunteers motivated.

I try not to get over involved in the creative works of the people who give their time and efforts to us for fear of stifling that creativity. It is that creativity that created the NOVEMBER FLOWERS program here at the GFLCCO.

Everyone is aware of the color for breast cancer. Pink ribbons for breast cancer support, yellow ribbons for our troops, red poppies for our veterans.

The color for lung cancer is clear or white. Using the color white as a base, a young lady by the name of Amanda began making paper flowers for us to distribute. We are offering this beautiful hand made white flower that you can wear in support of lung cancer awareness.