Coaches vs. Cancer: A Media Initiative to Help Fight Cancer

For John Muszynski Chairman of PMX the invitation to chair the recent American Cancer Society39s annual Coaches vs Cancer Dinner Benefit in New York was a great opportunity to gather the influential media community and honor his wife Gail a cancer survivorquotFranklyquot he began quotI didn39t have indepth knowledge39 about Coaches vs Cancer but I knew it had been around for 30 years and was an important fundraising benefit for cancer researchquot The event itself brings together sports figures for an evening that includes panel discussions and personal narratives on their fight against cancer This year Gail was selected to be the honoree by John Bogusz Executive Vice President of Sports Sales for Paramount CBS She is a media professional with over 20 years of experience at agencies such as Starcom and Leo Burnett and now a yoga instructor and studio owner Despite a fear of public speaking especially on such a personal and sensitive subject quotShe was absolutely spectacularquot Muszynski remarkedPrevious Coaches vs Cancer benefits have concentrated on college basketball quotThey talk about how it relates to the media world and entertainment but this year was a little differentquot Muszynski explained quotWhen I was chatting with the Executive Committee they kept asking 39What39s Gail39s favorite school for basketball39 And I said guys I have to be honest with you she39s not a big basketball fan She39s a huge hockey and NFL fanquotAs the discussion continued about which coaches could be included in the benefit for the panel quotthe fact that Eddie Olcyzk a former NHL player former Olympian just went through a battle with cancerquot led the committee to expand beyond college basketball for the event quotThe folks from the American Cancer Society had a contact who knew Eddie and they reached out The net result was that the evening was less about basketballquot Olcyzk39s keynote talked about quothis experience with cancer and how difficult it was and he talked about the caregiver and the need to continue to battle this into research and raise funds It was very very well receivedquot Muszynski noted quotAnd then my wife came up and she shared her entire story She39s been battling cancer for almost 13 years and she talked about how yoga became a very important part of her treatment plan It was very inspiring I can39t tell you the number of people that came up to me afterward talking about how moved they were by her story and how they can relate because they39ve got somebody in their family with cancer or they went through cancer and talked about the caregiver situationquotGail39s yoga regime began after her first treatment for her cancer in the hospital It proved to be so therapeutic for her that it led to years of practice including opening her own yoga studio More recently she continues her yoga assisting at a studio close to her homeAsking people for money is usually challenging but not for this event according to Muszynski quotI found this to be easier than you would expect So many have a personal connection to a loved one or themselves being hit by cancer That was a motivating factor Also because of my wife and her personality she knows a lot of these folks from going to events with me everybody wanted to hear her story and support her Everybody was very quick to sign up I don39t think I sent a single followup after I sent my first email It made me feel really good about how our media industry surrounded this event and really got involvedquotFor Lipman the real challenge is cancer itself quotCancer is a complex problemquot she admitted quotso it takes a comprehensive approach to make progress We believe all people should have a fair and just opportunity to live a longer healthier life free from cancer regardless of how much money they make the color of their skin their sexual orientation gender identity disability status or where they livequot Health equity for her organization means that everyone has a fair and just opportunity to prevent find treat and survive cancer quotIt requires us to eliminate barriers and address needs People have different circumstances and because of this the tools and resources will be different from one person to the next in order to achieve health equityquot she addedIn addition to inperson attendance Muszynski included a video from friends and family in the Midwest quotWe live in the Midwest and a lot of our family and a number of our friends couldn39t attend So I had a surprise video put together for Gail with well wishesquot he explained As it turned out that was the biggest challenge he faced in preparing for the event quotIt39s amazing how so many of our friends and family do not want to get in front of a camera and don39t know what to say But we ended up having a nineminute video that was wonderfulquotThis year39s benefit set records for attendance and fundraising quotThis year we had 32 different companies represented 340plus people and raised over 375000quot he noted Last year there were 21 tables This year there were 33 quotOne of the things that the American Cancer Society organizers shared with me was that with so many different events for the charity this was the first time ever that they39ve experienced a situation where they had to extend the venue for an additional hour because nobody was leaving And you know in most of these functions they serve dinner and you turn around and everybody39s gone Nobody sticks around But we got out of there close to 11 pm So all in all very successfulquot he addedFor Lipman her organization is on the front lines quotFor 110 years the American Cancer Society has been a leader in the fight against cancer More people are surviving cancer than ever before but there is still work to be done to fulfill our vision of ending cancer as we know it for everyonequot she concludedClick the social buttons to share this story with colleagues and friendsThe opinions expressed here are the author39s views and do not 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Coaches vs. Cancer: A Media Initiative to Help Fight Cancer

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Charlene Weisler

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