LIVESTRONG

How do you live?

Comfortably?
Well?
Strong?

As the social media guru for LIVESTRONG, Brooke McMillan ensures that people around the world are indeed living strong. A small group of individuals, coupled with a cycling champ, and a myriad of yellow rubber bracelets started the campaign to LIVESTRONG. Using his remarkable athletic abilities and unbreakable will to survive cancer’s death threat, Lance Armstrong became the poster boy in the global fight against cancer.

From black tie fundraisers to spandex bike-a-thons, the Lance Armstrong Foundation, now known as LIVESTRONG, succeeded in raising awareness, funds, and support for those suffering from cancer. With a 7 time Tour-de-France winner leading the campaign, LIVESTRONG even has McCain and Obama naming “3 specific things they would do to fight the disease.”

Many cancer patients and survivors are awed by Lance Armstrong’s determined will power.

He is after all a celebrated sensation on the bike.

But he is also the guy next door—the guy who shared your hospital room in the oncology ward just a few years ago.

Based on a model of bringing services and comfort to individuals affected by cancer, LIVESTRONG thrives on its personal relationship both with its supporters and with its clients.

Brooke brought these ideas into action.

She was LIVESTRONG’s “first ‘SurvivorCare’ employee… answering questions about cancer and doing case management for people that needed assistance.”

Through its one-on-one “SurvivorCare” support and its partnership with various organizations, LIVESTRONG’s work extends beyond the hospital wall.

In 2008, staff at LIVESTRONG “went to New Orleans to work for Habitat for Humanity and to assist cancer survivors that had been affected by hurricane Katrina. We built on 4 houses as a team- including Lance. We met the partner organizations that received our grant funding that we provided to help people with cancer displaced by the storm.” Such global, national, and individual connections contribute to LIVESTRONG’s growth, support, and strength.

This fall, “the LIVESTRONG Cancer Navigation Center in Austin, Texas” will open to assist patients, survivors and loved ones deal with the emotional, physical and practical affects of cancer. Located in the Eastside of Austin, a typically underserved section of the Austin community, the center “will provide direct one-on-one counseling, help people figure out how to pay for treatment, talk with them about how to take care of their bodies during and after treatment and more. No facility like this exists in the city and there are very few navigation centers in the United States.”

My choice of living?

I would Live Strong.

Thanks Brooke for teaching us what it means to wear the LIVESTRONG wristband (A belated thanks to Kerala last week for taking us on a playful tour of KaBOOM!’s playgrounds)!

Please visit livestrong.org for more information.

(LIVESTRONG strives to improve the lives of those affected by cancer.)