Shouldn't Every Child Have an Angel?

The Phillie Phanatic will be at Catasauqua HS this Sunday at Noon for the Nicole Sheriff Childhood Cancer 3 K Walk and Olympics. This walk, conducted during childhood cancer awareness month will raise funds for the Angel34 Foundation, a LV nonprofit that exists to make sure that every child has his or her own angel during their battle with cancer.

Catty High School is located at 200 W Bullshead Road in Northampton.

If you are unable to make the walk, you can donate at Unique Pretzel, Premise Maid, Maviajos, Missing Piece, Widow's Tavern and Grille, Clover Hill Winery at the Fair Grounds, GIO's, Granny Schmidt's Bakery, Terry's Italian Restaurant, Serv Pro, Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber Events, Dickey's of Allentown, Best Vision Media, Affinity Abstract, NY Life Insurance - Comprehensive Wealth Management, ADT, Subway of Easton, Apricot Lane, ACE Hardware Nazareth, Resslers Market, Nazareth Diner and the new coffee Shop in Nazareth.

LHS Athletes Raise $1,700 to Fight Breast Cancer

Middle schools from all over the Lehigh Valley invaded the Bethlehem Steelers' complex on October 21. While football players hid, seventh and eighth graders competed in two-mile cross country races hosted by Liberty High School's own cross country team. These athletes also managed to race $1,400 for another kind of race - the race to cure breast cancer. Another $300 was scraped up by the girls' volleyball team.

They did so in honor of cross country athlete Emily Cecchini's mother, Robyn, who lost her battle with breast cancer in March at age 44. Emily (center) along with assistant volleyball coach Melissa Waldron (right) presented a $1400 check to Dolly Woody, Executive Director of the Susan G Komen Foundation NEPA, whose mission is to find a cure. To date, that foundation has invested nearly $2 billion in research and outreach.

Liberty's entire cross country team, coached by the legendary Mark Will Weber, relax below with the fruit of their labors.

The Whitehall Zephyrs ham it up before their race.

East Hills were all business.

Nitschman Middle Schoolers thought the race was next week.

Dent Reintroduces Colorectal Cancer Research Act

In 2011, LV Congressman Charlie Dent first introduced his Fight Colorectal Cancer Stamp Act. It would allow the post office to sell a “semipostal” stamp that raises money for critical colorectal cancer research programs. Funding for proven federal research programs could thus increase, without increasing federal government spending. Dent re-introduced that bill yesterday.

In a statement announcing his re-introduction, Dent notes that over 140,000 Americans are diagnosed with colorectal cancer every year. fifty thousand of them die. Sixty per cent of these deaths could be avoided if people just undergo screenings. Identifying and removing precancerous polyps would reduce the number of new colorectal cancer cases by 76 to 90 percent, according to the Centers for Disease Control.

"They say an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure," says Dent. "Consider the relatively low cost of this preventative service versus the gigantic costs of extensive cancer treatments and hospital stays that those suffering from colorectal cancer must endure. It’s not just dollars and cents, it is life or death.”

March is National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month.

Dent, Maloney Take Bipartisan Aim at Melanoma

The Lehigh Valley's Charlie Dent, a Republican in the House, and Manhattan's Carolyn Maloney, his Democratic counterpart, are taking aim at Melanoma, the most deadly form of skin cancer, by proposing new legislation to tighten federal standards on tanning beds. Before you dismiss this as silly stuff, you should know that people who use them increase their risk of getting this fatal disease by 74 per cent.

“Although Melanoma is often preventable, American families continue to lose loved ones to this destructive form of skin cancer,” said Rep. Dent in a news release. “While many Americans are aware of the dangers associated with Melanoma and take precautionary steps to prevent developing the disease, we must continue to educate the public about risks associated with too much exposure to UV light, especially from tanning beds. Our legislation ensures tanning bed standards are updated to minimize risk, and labels are positioned and worded to send a clear and prominent message about the real dangers associated with tanning.”

“Americans are aware of the dangers of smoking before they light up. It’s important they also know the risk of developing melanoma before they lie down,” Rep. Dent continued.

“Tanning beds are where cigarettes were in the 1950s: everyone knows they’re cancer-causing, and yet they are poorly regulated,” said Rep. Maloney. “Every year, almost 70,000 new cases of skin cancer are diagnosed, and 8,700 Americans die of the disease. Since the World Health Organization has reclassified tanning devices as ‘carcinogenic to humans,’ it’s time for the FDA to reexamine its classification of the devices—and that’s what this bill requires—because doing so will help save lives.”

The World Health Organization classifies UV-emitting tanning devices right up there with tobacco, asbestos and uranium as a definite cause of cancer.

Dent: Buy Stamps to Fight Cancer

How can we continue to fund important cancer research when the economy gets tight?

LV Congressman Charlie Dent has an answer. His Fight Colorectal Cancer Stamp Act will allow the post office to sell a “semipostal” stamp that raises money for critical colorectal cancer research programs. It will increase funding for proven federal research programs without increasing federal government spending.

“Countless Americans have battled colorectal cancer and many more have experienced the pain of losing a loved one to this aggressive disease,” Dent said. “Federal research has played a vital role in saving the lives of many diagnosed with colorectal cancer, but despite the important advances we have seen in recent years, the disease continues to impact far too many American families.”

Since 1980, the detection and treatment of colorectal cancer has dramatically improved thanks to research conducted by the Department of Defense (DOD), Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and National Institutes of Health (NIH). In part to federal research, patients diagnosed with metastatic colorectal cancer today are living significantly longer than those diagnosed with the disease less than 30 years ago. In a growing number of cases, patients whose cancer was detected early in its development have even been cured. However, colorectal cancer remains the second leading cause of cancer deaths in the United States.

Olympus Corporation of the Americas, which is headquartered in the 15th District, has been instrumental in promoting colorectal cancer research and awareness in the Lehigh Valley region and across the country.

"As a leader in the medical technology industry, Olympus is committed to educating Americans about colorectal cancer prevention," said Olympus Corporation of the Americas President and CEO, F. Mark Gumz. “We applaud Congressman Dent for his work to improve the health of Americans. Increased research and early detection of colon cancer through screening will help foster the eradication of this preventable disease."

“As the friend of many patients and survivors, I am grateful to Representative Charlie Dent for his leadership on this critical legislation that will increase federal funding for colorectal cancer and bring much-need attention to the fight against this disease during Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month. As the daughter of a letter carrier who collected stamps as a child, I am personally thrilled about the idea. This stamp will help us raise much needed funds for colorectal cancer and will allow patients, caregivers and advocates to show their determination to win the fight against colorectal cancer every time they use the postal service,” said Carlea Bauman, President of the Colorectal Cancer Coalition.

The March introduction of Dent’s bill coincides with National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month, which was officially designated over a decade ago by President Bill Clinton.