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4-25-20 Letters to the Tribune

By Staff | Apr 24, 2020

Cancer Hasn’t Stopped, So Neither Have We: Support Available from American Cancer Society During COVID-19

As the COVID-19 crisis grows larger every day, cancer patients many of whom already have compromised immune systems are more vulnerable than ever. We at the American Cancer Society want to ensure that cancer patients, their caregivers and loved ones, know we are here for them during this difficult time.

Information is a critically important resource right now. We’re continually updating our website with the latest information and guidance for cancer patients from our public health experts. Please visit www.cancer.org/coronavirus to learn more, or call us 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at 1-800-227-2345. We are also available via Live Chat at cancer.org and will be adding video-conferencing in the near future.

Our 24-hour helpline and live chat are also great options for emotional support during this time of challenging isolation. In addition, our Reach to Recovery program provides peer-to-peer support for breast cancer patients and is now 100% phone-based, and our virtual support groups include the Cancer Survivors Network and Springboard Beyond Cancer.

Through our advocacy affiliate, ACS CAN, we are fighting for cancer patients by advocating for policies that will help ease the increased burden created by the pandemic. ACS CAN is also fighting for continued relief for the nonprofit sector. Learn more at www.fightcancer.org.

This is just the beginning of our COVID-19 response efforts. Cancer hasn’t stopped, and neither will we. To learn more or to make a donation, please visit www.cancer.org.

Just a reminder that the Pierce County Relay for Life has been postponed until the fall please look for more information to come once we know what direction we are headed.

Laurie Odden,

Senior Community Manager

American Cancer Society

Subsidize Newspapers?

Our country was founded on the principle of a well- informed, educated public where all citizens could be involved in deciding their destiny. Freedom of the press is a constitutional right. Ben Franklin called newspapers “the watch dogs of society,” and society needs good watch dogs with long teeth now more than ever. Freedom and democracy are under attack by unscrupulous politicians and the well-funded corporations that own them.

North Dakota newspapers in communities both large and small represent their community’s spirit, keeping residents informed of local activities and vital news of the area. Newspapers have long been the cornerstone of an educated citizenry. They create a comforting sense of belonging and meaning, especially to older citizens who devoted their lives to the community.

Now with COVID-19 making its way through the state, people are facing an invisible, potentially mortal enemy to themselves and their community. They need a local paper to inform and rally the community. Reading about your area, about people and places you know, comforts the soul and for many of us, a flat screen is no comparison to holding that paper in your hands.

Some internet bloggers and mama’s basement writers who have no sense of community are publishing false information with no facts or data to back up their stories. They are sowing mistrust and dividing people at a time when unified action based on trustworthy information is a matter of life or death. Some foreign countries are using the internet to spread fake news to destroy our democracy. We need real professional newspapers now more than ever.

Maybe it is time to rally around the newspapers. Can you step up now and subscribe to whatever you’re reading for free online? Can we agree to take a unique approach to saving them? We subsidize farmers, the coal and oil industry, wind energy, ethanol, a long list of other enterprises, and perhaps small-town grocery stores soon. Wisely, we fund Public Broadcasting. Maybe we need to subsidize newspapers for the vitality and safety of our communities. Newspapers were a principle force in building this country’s democracy and keeping us free. The Washington Post motto “Democracy Dies in Darkness” is more relevant now than ever. Legislators: step up and spend some of the people’s Legacy Fund to ensure the future of our newspapers and our democracy.

David Schwalbe,

Bismarck ND