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Margo Feinstein (Connolly)
Dear Classmates,
As you have likely heard in the news, the recent federal cuts to cancer research funding have been devastating—about 37%. A panel of researchers from UCSC, speaking to us California ACS CAN (American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network) volunteers recently, expressed widespread fear. Dr. Doug Kellogg, PhD., a concerned cancer researcher, told us that research funding was slashed just as scientists felt close to breakthrough therapies for dreaded pancreatic cancer. He predicted that promising young scientists will now select other specialties with more certain funding—or they may accept more stable jobs in other countries—because funding to NIH is evaporating. As universities reluctantly halt clinical trials and toss years of associated research results, morale among cancer researchers is very low in America.
If you, a loved one or friend is diagnosed with cancer, you will surely want state-of-the-art therapies to be readily available to give the patient the best possible chance of survival.
This year I celebrate thirty years of survival from breast cancer. I am so grateful to the scientists, the dedicated medical staffs, and the friends and family who extended my life. I was also very fortunate to benefit from excellent employer-sourced medical insurance coverage.
Sadly, the safety-net that protected many Americans without such life-saving coverage will soon be gone. At least twelve million less-fortunate Americans who must rely on Medicaid coverage will now lose it, and thousands of Americans will suffer and die earlier, as their cancer progresses—many who might have been saved if diagnosed early via regular cancer screening and offered the insurance coverage to pay for existing treatment.
Here is your chance to make a difference, as you honor the courage of cancer patients, the memory of those who lost their battles, and the talent and commitment of researchers, medical teams and caregivers.
As a long-time volunteer as a Legislative Ambassador for ACS CAN, (the cousin of American Cancer Society), I advocate exclusively for ACS. We lobby Congress for more funding for cancer research, we fight for clean air, and we ask all levels of government leaders to improve access to affordable healthcare, including regular cancer testing and quality cancer care, when needed, for all Americans. Most of us volunteers are either dedicated survivors or people who have lost family to cancer. When we lobby legislators, we tell our powerful stories.
Please donate a multiple of $10 to ACS CAN (American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network) Lights of Hope (our signature fundraiser) this year to support our lobby efforts. (Thank you so much to classmates for your donations over the years!)
In the past, I have designed hundreds of Lights of Hope bags honoring those designated by donors via my online page. This was very time-consuming. Instead, this year I will post a list of the names of anyone (cancer victims or survivors, medical teams, or caregivers) my donors choose to honor on a poster in the window of the American Cancer Society Discovery Shop at 1538 Locust St., Walnut Creek, Ca from Sat., 8/23-Sat.,9/6/25. That way I can concentrate on the actual fundraising. (Many thanks to the gracious Discovery Shop Manager, Victoria Zerbs!)
If you donate, and the honored person is a living cancer patient, please just use the first name and last initial to protect medical privacy. thanks
Just as cancer cells appear in patients of all origins and political parties, ACS CAN is non-partisan. We value the lives of all patients, and we fight for research funding and access to affordable quality cancer screening and (if necessary) treatment of all Americans.
Here I am pictured at Cancer Action Day in Sacramento (April 9, 2025).
The future of cancer research affecting all of our families and the healthcare of millions of deserving Americans is on the line. Your donation to fund our aggressive advocacy efforts may save the life of someone you love.
Please click on this link to donate via my personal ACS CAN donation page:
https://acscan.donordrive.com/participant/Margo-Connolly
Many thanks ahead for saving lives! A virtual rose from my summer garden:
Margo (Feinstein) Connolly
Volunteer Legislative Ambassador
American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network
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