Founded in 1997 by cancer survivor and champion cyclist Lance Armstrong, LIVESTRONG fights for the 28 million people around the world living with cancer today. LIVESTRONG connects individuals to the support they need, leverages funding and resources to spur innovation and engages communities and leaders to drive social change. Known for the iconic yellow wristband, LIVESTRONG’S mission is to inspire and empower anyone affected by cancer.

Here are a few of the resources LIVESTRONG provides to individuals affected by cancer so you can see the kind of work your donation supports. A cancer diagnosis is often accompanied by insurance headaches, financial hurdles, treatment decisions, fertility questions or feelings of depression. LIVESTRONG connects survivors with options to address these and other challenges. Here are three ways we offer help.

• Support by phone: Our hotline connects individuals with resources and information covering financial, emotional and practical concerns. Our services are free and can be used by anyone affected by cancer; survivors, caregivers, health care providers, friends and family are encouraged to call 866.235.7205 for help in English and 866.927.7205 for help in Spanish.
• Support in person: Beginning in fall 2010 at our Austin headquarters, the LIVESTRONG Cancer Navigation Center will offer the same one-on-one support and navigation services as our hotline to anyone affected by cancer in English and Spanish, face-to-face and entirely free of charge.
• Support to take with you: Often when a survivor is newly diagnosed, he/she has no idea what questions to ask, where to go for help or how to organize medical and treatment information. We developed the LIVESTRONG Guidebook with input from cancer survivors to make the journey easier, from diagnosis, through treatment and beyond to developing a long-term, post-treatment care plan. The Guidebook is also free.
• In 2010, the Lance Armstrong Foundation awarded a $16,000 community grant to Mercy Hospital to implement a program called “The Creative Center: Arts in Healthcare”. This program will fund an artist for ten hours a week, over twelve months to work with patients at Mercy. LIVESTRONG also funded the Childrens Heart Connection conference in 2010 in Des Moines with a grant of $3500.

These are just a few examples of the direct impact your donation makes in the lives of people affected by cancer. You make it possible for us to pursue our mission of inspiring and empowering people affected by cancer.

For more information visit livestrong.org