I know you may be thinking, "I'm just one person, does it really matter if I advocate?" Well, the answer is absolutely it matters. Let me give you an example.
My daughter, Karley, is very passionate and loves volleyball. But, if she's the only one to show up to the game (against the opposing team) full of other students, will she win? No. If the other players show up and don't try, will the(y) win? No. How do they get funding for athletic gear, uniforms, etc? They fund-raise, ask for big sponsorships, and challenge different companies to (support) put the most in their team. They don't do it alone. My family and friends help her raise that much needed funding. (If they want to win, they have to be a committed Team on the court and off the court.)
So, in order to be part of (a successful) the team, you have to want it. Do you want to live, and make a difference for future generations?
Chris Draft, former NFL player and co-founder of Team Draft, began November 27, 2011 when he and his wife, Keasha Rutledge Draft, were married in Atlanta, GA Keasha was diagnosed with Stage IV lung cancer in December 2010.
Team Draft was founded by former NFL linebacker and internationally-recognized health advocate, Chris Draft, and his late wife, Keasha, on November 27, 2011—their wedding day. At the time, Keasha, a never-smoker, was battling Stage IV Lung Cancer after being diagnosed with the disease in December 2010. Despite the diagnosis and knowing the long odds they faced, Chris and Keasha decided to fight back, and standing side-by-side, they launched Team Draft at their wedding. Unfortunately, Keasha died one month later.
With an introduction from the NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, Chris visited American Cancer Society in April 2011)went across the street to the American Cancer Society and asked if there was something they could do to help with funding lung cancer. They asked what the American Cancer Society does for lung cancer awareness month in November. The ACS replied that she could be part of the great american smokeout but that's all they did for lung cancer awareness month. They kindly declined and Keasha passed away about a month after their wedding, leaving Chris to carry on his advocacy.
Had the ACS taken Keasha seriously and really advocated and spoken up, that lung cancer matters, imagine what it would look like today? But they didn't. So it's up to US to keep going, fighting, raising awareness and letting others know that our lives matter!
THE OUTLET
The outlet Team Draft has given each year to really make an impression on someone is the (Lung Cancer Survivors) Super Bowl Challenge. But that may not happen this year due to the NFL and pandemic, but also, we don't have the Team. I have so many people ask how they can advocate. Raise awareness. Read about the superbowl challenge on Team Draft's website. I went the first year and the NFL and their wives totally embraced me. I sat with Andy Dalton as I told him my story. He put his phone down and listened. Then he retweeted Lung Cancer Matters. Tim Tebow, who always does so much for childhood cancer, he stopped signing autographs to listen to my story.
My point is, we have this opportunity through Team Draft to make a difference in Lung Cancer research and awareness. Unless we have at least 32 people participating, we won't be doing it this year. (That and COV-ID19 maybe). We need this to be a tradition. We need your family and friends talking about the Team and what they can do to help us LIVE!
Being cooped up in the house, I started painting. I want to do a silent auction and dedicate the funds raised to lung cancer research (less overhead). And all the research centers can say Lung Cancer Matters, but they need to show it. It's up to US to challenge them. To inspire them. Take a look at the past winners. They've gone on to be huge advocates in the Lung Cancer Community. But we need more. We all know the underfunding and lack of awareness. It's OUR time to stand up and make these cancer research centers see US. To recognize US. You can fund raise (which is vert fun-unlimited possibilities), blog, write and call your senators. But most importantly, you can join our Team. We can all be on the same page on how we are going to win the game! If we don't, we will be on the same path of under funding and poor survival. We are finally living longer. Let's use that to our advantage! To learn more, go to Team Draft's website or message me and I can get you to the right place.
We all want to Live, for our families and friends. It's time to take a stand. Are you going to be part of the Team or just a spectator?
WHAT WE DO
Since its founding, Team Draft has been dedicated to using its unique platform to raise lung cancer awareness and research funding through its Campaign To Change The Face Of Lung Cancer. And the centerpiece of that Campaign is Team Draft’s annual Lung Cancer Survivors’ Super Bowl Challenge. As Draft explains, “the Super Bowl Challenge gives us a unique opportunity to use the overwhelming media coverage surrounding the Super Bowl to raise lung cancer awareness on an international level.”
“With the game as a backdrop,” says Draft, “we give our survivor-advocates a world-wide platform to share their stories, which we can then use to weave a broader narrative about the state of lung cancer and the hope that now exists for those battling the disease.” And Team Draft’s efforts are paying off. “The Challenge achieves some amazing things in terms of public awareness and changing perceptions about lung cancer,” says Dr. Ross Camidge, Director of Thoracic Oncology at Colorado University Cancer Center.
In addition to raising critical public awareness, the Super Bowl Challenge also raises funds for lung cancer organizations and treatment centers across North America. And because Team Draft’s National Campaign has always been about “we” and not “me,” just as Keasha intended, participating survivor-advocates who raise more than $5,000 during the Super Bowl Challenge may commit 90% of the funds they raise to a lung cancer organization or cancer center of their choice with the remaining 10% going to support Team Draft and its mission. Of this aspect of the Super Bowl Challenge, Dr. Camidge says, “you need somebody working on the national level. You need somebody working on the local level. Everybody wins.”
As Draft points out, “anybody can get lung cancer.” “The disease doesn’t care where you live, but your zip code often determines the quality of care you receive,” he explains. “In football, we understand the importance of the home field advantage. By allowing survivors to direct where funds go, we’re giving people the opportunity to fight for better cancer treatment in their communities—to give themselves and their neighbors the home field advantage,” he says.
“It takes a team to tackle cancer, and thanks to committed survivor-advocates like Angie, Lisa, Christie, Kathy, Sandy, and all those who are participating in the Super Bowl Challenge, we are building a championship team,” Draft says. “Keasha’s legacy of hope lives on through that team and we are grateful to all those who have contributed and continue to contribute to lung cancer awareness, research, treatment and patient advocacy efforts.”
Team Draft hopes to have survivor-advocates from all 32 NFL cities participate in the Super Bowl Challenge, the ultimate goal is for all NCI designated cancer centers and lung cancer organizations—regardless of location—to identify and support a survivor-advocate in the Challenge every year. Team Draft is challenging lung cancer survivors and their supporters to help meet that goal by choosing to fight for their communities by joining the Super Bowl Challenge.
“We know the key to winning this fight is for everybody in the lung cancer community to support one another,” says Draft, adding that “the only way a community or an organization loses is if nobody stands up.”
About Team Draft
Team Draft, an initiative of the Chris Draft Family Foundation, is dedicated to raising lung cancer awareness and increasing badly needed research funding by shattering the misconception that lung cancer is a “smoker’s disease.” The fact is, anybody can get lung cancer. Yet, despite the fact that between 20,000 and 30,000 people who have never smoked—including Keasha—are diagnosed with lung cancer in the United States each year, the smoking stigma negatively impacts lung cancer research funding, which pales in comparison to funding for other major cancers and diseases. Team Draft is out to change all that. “If we can take away the stigma that says you have to be a smoker to get lung cancer, we have a real chance to educate people about the true nature of the disease,” explains Draft.
To learn more about Team Draft, share your story, or make a donation, please visit www.teamdraft.org.
Chris Draft
Founder, President, and CEO
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