Organization Details:

The American Cancer Society is the nationwide community-based voluntary health organization dedicated to eliminating cancer as a major health problem by preventing cancer, saving lives, and diminishing suffering from cancer, through research, education, advocacy and service.

Description:
We serve our customers—cancer patients, their
families and those seeking information—with
accurate, innovative, compassionate answers to
their needs.
Our Values
• We treasure our partnership by attracting,
developing and recognizing outstanding and
diverse volunteers and staff.
• We uphold our donors’ trust by being exemplary
stewards of our human and financial resources.
• We operate with integrity by bringing the
principles of our Code of Ethics into practice.
• We fulfill our mission with a sense of urgency,
honoring our commitment to eradicate cancer.

Our Vision 2015 Goals
• Reduce cancer incidence by 25 percent.
• Reduce cancer mortality by 50 percent.
• Improve the quality of life of cancer patients and
their families.

Our Structure
The Society has three interdependent functions:
Mission Delivery, Income Development, and
Operations. Funds raised through Income
Development are channeled to Mission Delivery
to support the implementation of the Society’s
programs and services. Operations is responsible
for delivering those programs and services to
people and organizations statewide.

History:
The American Cancer Society was founded in 1913 as the American Society for the Control of Cancer (ASCC). This group was started by 15 well-known doctors and business leaders in New York City. The start of this group was a very important event in the history of public health. In those early days, cancer was rarely mentioned in public. The disease was steeped in a climate of fear and denial. At that time cancer claimed 75,000 lives a year in the United States alone. The Society's founders knew they had to raise public awareness if progress was to be made. The number of doctors, nurses, patients and family members who had to be reached was overwhelming. Despite the enormity of their task, the founders and their colleagues set about writing articles for popular magazines and professional journals. They also published Campaign Notes, a monthly bulletin of cancer information, and recruited doctors throughout the country to help teach the public about cancer. In 1936, Marjorie G. Illig, an ASCC field representative and chair of the General Federation of Women's Clubs Committee on Public Health, made an extraordinary suggestion. She proposed creating a legion of new volunteers whose sole purpose was to wage war on cancer. The Women's Field Army, as this organization came to be called, was a huge success. Its recruits wore khaki uniforms, complete with insignia of rank and achievement, and canvassed the streets to raise money and help educate the public. Clarence Little, the ASCC's managing director at the time, wrote that "In 1935 there were 15,000 people active in cancer control throughout the United States. At the close of 1938, there were 10 times that number." More than anything else, it was the Women's Field Army that moved the Society to the forefront of voluntary health organizations. In 1945, the ASCC was reorganized as the American Cancer Society. It was the beginning of a new era for the organization and, in many ways, for the country as a whole. World War II was over, the single greatest threat to modern democracy had been defeated, and the nation could at last focus on the enemy at home. Many believed it was time for another bold move. In 1946, Mary Lasker and her colleagues met this challenge by raising more than $4 million for the Society -- $1 million of which was used to establish the Society's research program. With the help of dedicated volunteers like Lasker and Elmer Bobst, the Society's research program quickly began to bear fruit.
In 1947, the American Cancer Society also began its public education campaign about the signs and symptoms of cancer. They were termed "Cancer's Danger Signals."
Around the same time the cancer signals campaign began, Dr. Sidney Farber, one of the Society's first research grantees, achieved the first temporary cancer remission using the drug aminopterin. This marked the beginning of the modern day era of chemotherapy for cancer treatment. Over the years, scientists supported by the American Cancer Society have established the link between cancer and smoking; demonstrated the effectiveness of the Pap smear; developed cancer fighting drugs and biological response modifiers, such as interferon; dramatically increased the cure rate for childhood leukemia; proved the safety and effectiveness of mammography; and much, much more.
All told, the Society has committed more than $3.3 billion to cancer research, funding 42 Nobel Prize winners.

Contact person: Monica Ward, Special Events Manager, (email)

Address:

2186 Knoll Drive, Suite A Ventura, CA 93003 (See a map)

Web Site: http://www.cancer.org

Directions:

If coming from North of Ventura take 101 South. Take the exit toward VICTORIA AVE/CHANNEL ISland HARBOR and turn RIGHT onto VALENTINE RD. Turn LEFT onto KNOLL DR. Our office is on the left hand side of Knoll Dr. at 2186 Knoll Dr Suite A. If coming from South of Ventura Merge onto US-101 N toward VENTURA. Take the VICTORIA AVE exit toward CHANNEL ISLAND HARBOR. Turn LEFT onto S VICTORIA AVE. Turn RIGHT onto VALENTINE RD. Turn LEFT onto KNOLL DR. Our office is on the left hand side of Knoll Dr. at 2186 Knoll Dr Suite A.   Nearest Bus Stop: N/A, N/A minute walk

Last updated on June 19, 2009