American Cancer Society's Camp Rainbow Celebrates 20th Anniversary

Cancer doesn't have to be a reason for a child to miss the fun and excitement of camp. Children affected by cancer, ages 4 through high school, are invited to attend the American Cancer Society's Camp Rainbow during the week of June 17 to 23. The Society, in cooperation with Eastern Maine Medical Center, the Bangor Ronald McDonald House, and the Bangor YMCA Camp Jordan, is celebrating its 20th anniversary of offering this FREE weeklong camp to children with cancer.

Camp Rainbow has been in operation since 1987 and is a special place where kids with cancer can simply smile, laugh and play; a place where they are not treated as "different" or "sick;" a place where they can just be happy, fun-loving kids again. This weeklong camping experience helps meet the physical, psychological, and emotional needs of hundreds of young cancer patients and their families. Attendees participate in fun activities such as swimming, kayaking, volleyball, arts and crafts, singing, and more.

The camp operates at Camp Jordan on Branch Lake in Ellsworth, a facility of over 200 acres with a well-developed waterfront, spacious dining hall, ropes course, various athletic areas, a theater stage, and an arts and crafts building. Children currently in treatment for cancer as well as those who are up to 10 years post-treatment are eligible to attend Camp Rainbow.

When asked what they liked most about Camp Rainbow, many of last summer's participants remarked that they like how everyone cares about everyone else and how they were able to share their thoughts with others who have or had cancer. When asked what they like least about camp, the general consensus was, "It wasn't long enough!"
For more information and an application for this year's Camp Rainbow, please contact the American Cancer Society at 800-227-2345 or visit www.cancer.org. Call 800-ACS-2345, 24 hours a day, any day of the year for cancer information, connections to local resources, or simply to talk with a caring person when you or a family member needs strength and encouragement.

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Man leaves cancer society $3.5 million

A retired General Electric Co. aircraft mechanic in CINCINNATI who lived quietly and frugally has gotten attention in death with a $3.5 million gift to the American Cancer Society. Charles J. Herrman died at age 96 one year ago, three years after the death of the sister he lived with most of his adult life.

Robert C. Porter III, the attorney for Herrman’s estate, said part of Herrman’s $4.1 million estate had been inherited from his sister, Ruth Herrman, an elementary schoolteacher.Herrman never explained why he chose the American Cancer Society as his primary beneficiary, Porter said.“He didn’t have cancer, and I don’t think his family had a history of cancer,” Porter said. “He probably picked the American Cancer Society because it’s a well-known charity.”The society was gratified by his choice.“It would take us several fundraising events to raise that amount of money,” said Peter Osborne, spokesman for the American Cancer Society’s Southwest Ohio Chapter. “We’ve very thankful that he thought of us.”

Information from: The Cincinnati Enquirer, http://www.enquirer.com

Tea 'could cut skin cancer risk'

Drinking just two cups of tea per day could cut the risk of developing skin cancer, a study suggests.

The US research compared the tea-drinking habits of 1,400 people with skin cancer and 700 who had not developed the disease. The study, in the European Journal of Cancer Prevention, suggests chemicals in tea could have a protective effect. But British cancer experts warned that the best way to guard against the disease was to protect the skin.

The study, by a team at Dartmouth Medical School, New Hampshire, looked at 770 adults with basal cell carcinoma and 696 with squamous cell carcinoma. Both are cancers which develop in skin cells. Sunlight is a contributing factor in around 90% of cases. Around 70,000 people in Britain are affected by the cancers each year. All those studied were diagnosed between 1993 and 1995 or 1997 and 2000.

The study asked the people with cancer, plus the healthy group - all aged between 25 and 74 - about diet, lifestyle and their consumption of both green and black teas. Both kinds of tea are rich in antioxidants which animal studies have been shown prevent the development of cancer cells. This research found that people who drank tea regularly had a lower risk of either cancer.
Those who drank two or more cups a day had a 65% lower risk of developing squamous cell carcinoma. Tea-drinking also appeared to protect against basal cell carcinoma, but to a lesser degree. Adding lemon peel to the tea, a practice more common in the US than the UK, seemed to increase the benefits of the drink, the researchers said.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/6571147.stm