Cancer information event to be held on Water Street

A cancer awareness event is set for North Water Street next weekend.

At Tuesday’s Village of Lewiston work session, the Board of Trustees approved a request from Karen Connor of the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network to stage illuminated bags around the Freedom Crossing Monument from 4 p.m. to dusk on Saturday, Sept. 14.

Connor said the nonprofit, nonpartisan ACS CAN is “the advocacy arm of the American Cancer Society.” She is the New York state lead ambassador.

At her event, Connor promised no fundraising or solicitation, “just awareness.”

“There’s a lot of cancer in Niagara County right now,” she said. “I really want people to know what we do: We take the fight to cancer to our elected officials.”

“I just think it would be good for us to have more of a presence in Niagara County,” Connor added.

Approximately 50 bags will circle the bronze statue.

“Around dusk time, it will be beautiful,” Connor said. “And hopefully, if there’s a lot of foot traffic, we can talk to people about why they should be volunteers, and why they should know what we do.”

She noted, “We just need more strength. We need a bigger team here, in this particular part of Niagara County.”

Mayor Anne Welch said, “It’s great to bring awareness to it; we appreciate that.”

The ACS CAN website explains, “The American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network advocates for evidence-based public policies to reduce the cancer burden for everyone. We engage our volunteers across the country to make their voices heard by policymakers at every level of government. We believe everyone should have a fair and just opportunity to prevent, detect, treat, and survive cancer.”