ESUN Editorial

2008 Team Sarcoma Initiative

International Sarcoma Awareness Week: July 12-20, 2008

The 2008 Team Sarcoma Initiative is an internationally coordinated set of events to raise awareness of sarcoma and funds to support sarcoma research, clinical trials, and patient and family services. The 2008 Initiative consists Team Sarcoma events that will be held worldwide during the week of July 12-20, 2008.

The Team Sarcoma Initiative has become an International Sarcoma Awareness Week with over 3,400 people participating in it worldwide in 2007. While the members of the "core" Team Sarcoma are cycling and walking along the Danube River from Passau, Germany to Vienna, Austria, they will be joined by people participating in various local events in the cities around the globe. Teams are formed by Sarcoma Centers, Sarcoma Advocacy Groups, and sarcoma patients, caregivers, and survivors as well as families that have lost a loved one to sarcoma. Think of the Team Sarcoma Initiative as an international "Relay-For-Life" where all of the awareness and fundraising is focused exclusively on sarcoma. Not every event will be a fundraising event. We welcome events that are focused exclusively on increasing public awareness of sarcoma.

We need your help to reach our goal of having 5,000 people participate in the Team Sarcoma Initiative this year. Together are voices are louder and we can make a difference. If you are interested in learning what's involved in forming one of the local Team Sarcomas, please contact me. In order to give the planners of local Team Sarcomas more flexibility in planning their activities, the official dates of the 2008 Team Sarcoma Initiative involve two week-ends and are July 12-20, 2008. Click here to learn more about this Initiative.

The video presentation, A Forgotten Cancer, which gives basic information about sarcoma and the Team Sarcoma Initiative is available in nine languages (Chinese, English, Dutch, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Polish, and Spanish). It has been viewed thousands of times and posted on scores of websites worldwide. You can read about our complementary video, The Faces of Sarcoma, which will contain photos of sarcoma patients and survivors and those who lost their life to sarcoma, by clicking here.

Help make a difference in finding a cure for sarcoma ― form a team, join a team, or support a team.

Best,

Bruce

Bruce D. Shriver, PhD

Editor-in-Chief, ESUN