LIVING STRONG IN TEXAS

Ed Philipp, Rye YMCA Chief Operating Officer

Last week I was lucky enough to attend the LIVESTRONG Assembly in Austin, TX.  I was excited to attend as I had never been to Texas and I figured I would get to learn more about the LIVESTRONG Foundation and maybe even get to meet Lance Armstrong.  Up until this point, my only experience with the LIVESTRONG Foundation was through our LIVESTRONG at the YMCA 12-week physical activity program for cancer survivors. 

The three-day Assembly was broken into two parts.  During the first part, each LIVESTRONG partner, in my case the YMCA, held their own workshops; the second part brought all of the partners and attendees together.  I spent the first two days of the Assembly working with approximately 60 other YMCA professionals who lead LIVESTRONG at the YMCA at their Y’s.  Currently, there are 200 YMCA branches that offer the program and we have served 6,000 survivors collectively.  Sharing and learning alongside other YMCA professionals was a great experience and we will be able to implement a few improvements to our program as a result.

The last day of the Assembly brought together all 500 attendees to explore ways we can collaborate with each other.  It was here that I learned about Camp Kesem.  Camp Kesem is a one-week residential camp run by college students for children who have had a parent with cancer.  The camp is free and seems like a great place for kids to have fun and be around other kids who have had similar experiences. Camp Kesem was founded around ten years ago at Stanford University and now has 37 chapters located at universities and colleges across the country.

The moment everyone was waiting for occurred on the second day of the Assembly during the State of the Foundation Lunch.  Lance Armstrong came out on stage and participated in a Q&A with the LIVESTRONG CEO.  Everyone in attendance was extremely excited to see Lance and hear what he had to say.  A common theme I heard from the many volunteers I met throughout the Assembly was that they were cancer survivors and had read Lance’s book while in treatment.  They, along with Lance, believe in the “obligation of the cured” and by volunteering for the LIVESTRONG Foundation they could give back to others.

On the last day, we were all asked to wear the yellow LIVESTRONG t-shirt we were given at registration.  It was pretty impressive to see 500 people wearing yellow t-shirts in the ballroom of the hotel.  However, I thought it was even more impressive to see all of the yellow t-shirts at the airport once the Assembly was over and everyone was headed home.  My flight out of Austin to Atlanta Friday afternoon had 13 of us wearing our yellow t-shirts and it was quite a sight.

For more information on LIVESTRONG got to www.livestrong.org and for more information on Camp Kesem go to www.campkesem.org. To find out about  LIVESTRONG at the YMCA and to view our video, please visit www.ryeymca.org/livestrong.htm

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