The American Cancer Society's “Celebration on the Hill” Bus is touring the country for seven months, traveling to over 40 states, collecting signatures from cancer survivors and their families who believe cancer should be a national priority.

The bus will arrive in Washington, D.C. on September 19, for our “Relay for Life Celebration on the Hill ” event.

Aboard it will be American Cancer Society ambassadors -- many of them cancer survivors -- who want to show the nation's leaders that cancer continues to be a major health concern and priority for many Americans.

The bus is a full-size coach “shrink-wrapped” in the Relay For Life signature color purple. Emblazoned on the bus are the American Cancer Society’s Internet address and toll-free number and the tagline, “I Care About Cancer and I Vote!” Ample space will be left for cancer survivors and those touched by the disease to sign the bus as it makes its way to Washington, D.C.

The bus will also carry back “luminaria” bags bearing the names of cancer survivors and those lost to the disease for a candle lighting ceremony on September 19. The ceremony will be held at dusk at the Capitol Reflecting Pool.

The Celebration Bus will highlight the Society’s efforts to bring its signature event, Relay For Life, to the National Mall in Washington, D.C. Relay is a unique overnight activity that offers everyone in a community an opportunity to participate in the fight against cancer. Relay For Life participants organize teams to walk, run or otherwise move around a track to demonstrate their resolve to eliminate cancer as a major public health problem.

The American Cancer Society’s “Relay For Life Celebration on the Hill” is a grassroots event celebrating cancer survivorship and empowering survivors and others to become a political force both in Washington, D.C. and in communities across the country.

More than 3,000 Relay Community Ambassadors – Society volunteers – and cancer survivors from each of the country’s 435 Congressional districts will take part on September 18th and 19th in the Celebration on the Hill event. During this event, the Ambassadors will meet with their members of Congress and will be joined by thousands more supporters from across the country at the Capitol Reflecting Pool.

This year, an estimated 1.3 million Americans are going to be diagnosed with cancer and 550,000 will die.

Congress plays a critical role in the battle against cancer. Changes in laws can impact millions of people, exponentially expanding and enhancing the American Cancer Society’s mission to eliminate cancer.