Field of Dreams

I lay awake last night worrying about money.

When I came to CCA just over a year ago, I sent a survey out to hundreds of our members, asking for feedback on where we should go.  Two messages were clear:  do more outreach so other patients can benefit from your programs; and, do more about screening.

For the past several months, we at CCA have been working to do exactly that.  We updated our logo and website so our “look” reflects the quality of service and care we provide.  We created a new screening tool, modeled after a lottery card.  We started the groundwork for a new 5k run/walk event.  We started reaching out to companies about doing promotions around awareness for colorectal cancer. 

The good news is, all of this is working.  We now get 30,000 hits to our website a week!  We have placed stories about the importance of screening in newspapers, magazines, and on television.  And already other cities are contacting us asking when we can bring the Undy 5000 to their location.

I am absolutely convinced these initiatives, and others, will change the landscape for this disease.  I am certain beyond a shadow of a doubt that this is the right path for the Colon Cancer Alliance, and—far more important--that the path will lead to transformational change in the level of attention paid to this disease. 

All this work takes time and money, however, and so far these things are costing us more money than we are bringing in.

So I find myself worrying about the most stupid, silly thing—money.  Vision is so rare these days.  Passion is hard to find.  Commitment and sacrifice are in short supply.  Yet when I look the CCA staff and volunteers, I see these things in abundance. 

In contrast, money is everywhere.  Most experts estimate that in the United States alone, around 9 million households have net worth of over $1 million.  In a country where a man can spend $80,000 on prostitutes, where we spend over $250 billion on fast food a year, surely enough money is around to save tens of thousands of people from having to go through cancer treatment.

So I have taken a risk.  In response to the request (or demands!) of patients, I have pushed for investment in programs that have the potential to elevate the dialogue about this disease.  These programs will change the world.  They may also run us to poverty.  But given that every day of every month of every year, over 100 people die in this country simply because they weren’t screened, how could we stand by and do nothing?

The movie Field of Dreams made famous the line, “If you build it, he will come.”  I believe that.  We have built something big and bold that has the capacity to change the world.  I absolutely believe that the money to keep it going will, indeed, come. 

I also still lie awake at night.