Values in Action: Light the Night for Cancer Research
My first tattoo rests visibly on my wrist–”C#”, commemorating the name of my godfather, Charlie Sharp, the director of an addiction treatment center in my hometown. We lost him to complications from cancer in 2010.
It’s been said so many times before, and yet still rings true, that everybody knows somebody. It’s not the existence and prevalence of cancer that, at this stage in the fight, we need to make known: people need to learn how exactly they can make a change. Where they can donate bone marrow. Where they can securely and efficiently donate funding to research. Who around them has been affected. To these ends, I believe the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society stands miles above her peer nonprofits. Transparent practices, upwards of a billion dollars invested in researching blood cancer treatment, and 76 cents on
each dollar put towards research and patient services–a near perfect Charity Navigator rating.
But, and the LLS knows this well, the fight against cancer isn’t confined to laboratories and hospitals. Again, everybody knows somebody. And sometimes the most inspiring moments, those that compose the prelude to stories of brave, compassionate heroes dedicating their lives to bettering cancer victims in their own field, come in a single evening spent alongside others who share having felt cancer’s cold touch. With candles in hand and flames in heart, we can ignite those moments together.
This is a humanist mission. The Foundation Beyond Belief has partnered with the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society to organize teams nationwide to participate in this year’s Light the Night walks. This week, we’re initiating Registration Week to encourage new members to get involved. We’ve already called to action 80 teams–the most that the LLS has ever seen. We’re hoping to reach 100, each with a dedicated group of volunteers willing to fundraise and walk with their fellow humanists, and humans, in support of the universal, science-based struggle against disease. The Stiefel family has pledged to match any donations made–doubling your efforts–until we surpass our goal of $1,000,000 raised by FBB affiliates in our inaugural year.
My “C#” is beginning to take on another meaning. And this one’s different than in the past, where upon seeing it I conjure up Charlie’s name, or the key in which his daughter-in-law and I performed some of his favorite melodies at his memorial service, or (yes) that programming language I was a fan of back in the day–this time, the “C” and the “#” don’t play into it literally. The enthusiasm I saw last weekend at the Secular Student Alliance conference when people heard about the LTN project, the extraordinary efforts we’re all engaging in to realize these goals, the utter passion taken on by organizers and members alike of nonreligious groups nationwide in this project: these will be forever intertwined with the “C#” image for me now.
Let’s put our humanist values into unprecedented action on cancer’s battlefield. Thousands of nontheistic faces, candlelit, armed with the determination that characterizes the atheist movement–eyes fixated on making an imminent difference in the lives affected by blood cancer.
This is, as they say, really something.
Just one last bit (speaking of tattoos): if the opportunity to stand alongside your friends and peers in a show of humanist goodwill and compassion isn’t incentive enough, today bloggers Pz Myers and Hemant Mehta agreed to ink themselves and Todd Stiefel agreed to sport a mohawk if 5,000 teammates sign up before Saturday evening. DO YOU NOT WANT TO PROPOGATE TATTOOS AND MOHAWKS, DEAR NONPROPHET STATUS READER?
Hell, if (when) we hit that goal I’ll get a new tattoo as well. I totally wasn’t planning it beforehand or anything.
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The LLS “Light the Night” Walks
To learn how to join a Foundation Beyond Belief-affiliated team and start fundraising: http://foundationbeyondbelief.org/LLS-lightthenight
Or (Boston-area folks!) to join the existing Harvard Humanists team to walk at Boston Common: http://pages.lightthenight.org/ma/BostonL12/HarvardHumanistBostonFBB
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Walker Bristol is an undergraduate studying religion, politics, and linguistics at Tufts University, and is the president of the Tufts Freethought Society. Originally from North Carolina, Walker was raised in a largely Quaker community before exploring several Christian traditions throughout high school and ultimately becoming a secular humanist at age 15. Walker is currently working as the Communications and Marketing Intern for the Foundation Beyond Belief. Alongside fellow NPS panelist Chelsea Link, he is a contributing editor to The Unelectables, covering religious minorities and atheists in the 2012 election. And along with fellow Tufts Freethought member Lauren Rose, Walker hosts the internet radio show FreethoughtCast. In addition to being involved in secular student activism, Walker is a hobbyist musician, ballroom dancer, and occasional jedi. He tweets nonsense @GodlessWalker.
