The Virginian-Pilot Archives

LEE'S FRIENDS

BATTLING A BIG FOE
Published: Monday, September 21, 1998
Section: LOCAL , page B8
Type of story: Editorial

© 1998 Landmark Communications Inc.
With a modest budget, the leanest of staffs and hundreds of volunteers, Norfolk-based Lee's Friends has been providing free personal emotional and practical support to cancer patients and their families in Hampton Roads for 20 years.
Along the way, Lee's Friends has garnered a slew of honors, among them the President's Volunteer Action Award in 1982, the Governor's Gold Medal Award in 1989 and a National Conference of Christians and Jews Distinguished Merit Award in 1992.
The Lee in Lee's Friends was Lee Harkins, a lovely young woman who succumbed to Advanced Hodgkin's Disease in 1978 at age 16. The grit, grace and humor with which she confronted her illness and treatments for it inspired awe and respect.
One of the ways in which Lee Harkins fought the foe that later killed her was to help plan the Lee Harkins Endowment Fund to keep the battle going after her death. The endowment has grown over the years - most recently by $750,000 raised in an energetic fund-raising campaign.
Lee's Friends operates from Christ and St. Luke's Episcopal Church, where it began as an outreach program of the parish. As an independent not-for-profit agency, it has trained more than 800 people in the care of cancer patients.
Demand for its services is sure to grow. In the United States, one in two men and one in three women will be diagnosed with cancer. Cancer kills 1,500 Americans a day, which adds up to more than 560,000 cancer mortalities annually. The immense toll that cancer exacts is the impetus for a candlelight service at the Lincoln Memorial scheduled for Sept. 25 on the eve of a march, sponsored by about 500 cancer-fighting groups, described as a ``coming together to conquer cancer.''
March organizers say the two-day event is but a beginning to shake many more billions of dollars a year for cancer research and care out of Congress. Eight million Americans alive at the moment - hundreds of thousands of them gravely ill - have been diagnosed with cancer. That constitutes a constituency of such magnitude that, if it raised its voice in concert with loved ones, would be impossible to ignore.
The federal government appropriates about $13 billion a year for the National Institutes of Health, whose primary mission is research. Congress has set out to double the NIH budget within five years. The National Cancer Institute component of NIH gets $2.3 billion. Not enough, say the march-against-cancer organizers. Of every four cancer-research projects that merit funding, only one is now funded.
In 1971, President Nixon initiated a multibillion-dollar campaign to eliminate cancer within seven years. Experts warned back then that throwing money at the challenge would not eradicate the scourge, and time has proved them right.
But much has been learned in the intervening 27 years about genes and the immune system and the multiple forms of cancer. Breakthroughs in prevention and treatment have been made. Cure rates for some cancers have risen - sharply in some instances.
The anti-cancer marchers' cause is well-considered. The need for cancer prevention and remedies is great. Some of the marchers will be from Hampton Roads. May this crusade triumph.

This article is © 1990 Landmark Communications Inc. and may not be republished without permission. If you have questions or comments about the archives, please send us feedback.

LEE'S FRIENDS BATTLING A BIG FOE Published: Monday, September 21, 1998 Section: LOCAL , page B8 Type of story: Editorial © 1998 Landmark Communications Inc. With a modest budget, the leanest of staffs and hundreds of volunteers, Norfolk-based Lee's Friends has been providing free personal emotional and practical support to cancer patients and their families in Hampton Roads for 20 years. Along the way, Lee's Friends has garnered a slew of honors, among them the President's Volunteer Action Award in 1982, the Governor's Gold Medal Award in 1989 and a National Conference of Christians and Jews Distinguished Merit Award in 1992. The Lee in Lee's Friends was Lee Harkins, a lovely young woman who succumbed to Advanced Hodgkin's Disease in 1978 at age 16. The grit, grace and humor with which she confronted her illness and treatments for it inspired awe and respect. One of the ways in which Lee Harkins fought the foe that later killed her was to help plan the Lee Harkins Endowment Fund to keep the battle going after her death. The endowment has grown over the years - most recently by $750,000 raised in an energetic fund-raising campaign. Lee's Friends operates from Christ and St. Luke's Episcopal Church, where it began as an outreach program of the parish. As an independent not-for-profit agency, it has trained more than 800 people in the care of cancer patients. Demand for its services is sure to grow. In the United States, one in two men and one in three women will be diagnosed with cancer. Cancer kills 1,500 Americans a day, which adds up to more than 560,000 cancer mortalities annually. The immense toll that cancer exacts is the impetus for a candlelight service at the Lincoln Memorial scheduled for Sept. 25 on the eve of a march, sponsored by about 500 cancer-fighting groups, described as a ``coming together to conquer cancer.'' March organizers say the two-day event is but a beginning to shake many more billions of dollars a year for cancer research and care out of Congress. Eight million Americans alive at the moment - hundreds of thousands of them gravely ill - have been diagnosed with cancer. That constitutes a constituency of such magnitude that, if it raised its voice in concert with loved ones, would be impossible to ignore. The federal government appropriates about $13 billion a year for the National Institutes of Health, whose primary mission is research. Congress has set out to double the NIH budget within five years. The National Cancer Institute component of NIH gets $2.3 billion. Not enough, say the march-against-cancer organizers. Of every four cancer-research projects that merit funding, only one is now funded. In 1971, President Nixon initiated a multibillion-dollar campaign to eliminate cancer within seven years. Experts warned back then that throwing money at the challenge would not eradicate the scourge, and time has proved them right. But much has been learned in the intervening 27 years about genes and the immune system and the multiple forms of cancer. Breakthroughs in prevention and treatment have been made. Cure rates for some cancers have risen - sharply in some instances. The anti-cancer marchers' cause is well-considered. The need for cancer prevention and remedies is great. Some of the marchers will be from Hampton Roads. May this crusade triumph.


This article is © 1990 Landmark Communications Inc. and may not be republished without permission. If you have questions or comments about the archives, please send us feedback.