New York, NY–(HISPANIC PR WIRE)–January 30, 2006–Andy Shapiro was always going somewhere. During his 40-year career with Metro Creative Graphics, Inc., Shapiro attended hundreds of newspaper conventions, conferences and trade shows, made innumerable presentations and met with countless people all with one purpose – to show how newspapers can increase revenue. Andy Shapiro understood the power of newspapers, and he challenged them to use that power in August 2005 – just two months before his death from non-smoking-related cancer – when he took to the podium for the last time to accept a lifetime achievement award from the Newspaper Special Sections Network.
During his acceptance speech, Shapiro called on publications large and small to use their influence in the fight against cancer. Everyone in the audience listened closely, and no one listened more intently than Debra Shapiro Weiss, Metro’s Executive Vice President and Andy’s daughter. From her seat in the audience that day, Debra was moved to take up her father’s call to action – and the concept of the Andrew E. Shapiro Cancer (AESC) Foundation was born.
“When my dad spoke to the NSSN audience, he exuded such bravery in the face of the fatal cancer that was ravaging his body,” explains Weiss. “Knowing the numbness he was experiencing in his feet and legs, the strength he showed standing at that podium created a drive in me I had never felt before. It was at that moment I knew I had to do something to continue his work and propel his hope that newspapers, as an industry, would join in the fight against cancer.”
In recent months, the Foundation has been transformed from an idea into a reality. Its purpose, however, was clear from the start, having been inspired by Shapiro’s personal battle and faith in the industry: to engage newspapers in driving expanded cancer awareness, in addition to fundraising for more aggressive cancer research, especially the development of prescreening technologies to ensure earliest-stage diagnoses.
To achieve its goal, the AESC Foundation will inspire and support efforts to raise consciousness and funds within the newspaper industry. Its web site, http://www.andreweshapirocancerfoundation.org, will feature stories of successful programs, events and products submitted by newspapers, along with access to editorial content – including materials developed by the American and Canadian Cancer Societies. Proceeds from these projects will benefit newspapers and their communities and can be donated either wholly or in part to organizations such as the AESC Foundation.
All donations made to AESC will be combined into an annual contribution on behalf of the newspaper industry as part of the Foundation’s “Newspapers Fighting Cancer” (NFC) initiative. The program will bring together newspapers from across North America to promote cancer awareness and raise money to fight the many forms of the disease through outreach to the continent’s millions of newspaper readers. The NFC initiative will, for the first time in the history of the newspaper industry, bring together newspapers – dailies, weeklies, shoppers, and both paid- and free-circulation publications – in the fight against cancer through fundraising efforts including its annual “Dollar Drive.”
AESC will provide participating newspapers the information and materials they need to reach out to their readers during the year and request a $1.00 donation to the Newspapers Fighting Cancer initiative. The potential impact of this initiative is staggering: If each of the over 125,000,000 daily and weekly newspapers circulated were to collect just $1.00 from each of its readers during the year, the newspaper industry could donate at least $125,000,000 annually to help fight cancer.
Participating newspapers will be provided with the “Newspapers Fighting Cancer” logo, which can be inserted in its Publisher’s box and/or marketing materials to show that they support this important cause. Donations by newspapers that are a part of the NFC initiative will be organized by the AESC Foundation into an annual donation to the American and Canadian Cancer Societies on behalf of the newspaper industry. In addition to providing editorial content for NFC newspapers, the American and Canadian Cancer Societies will team up with AESC to sponsor awards to newspapers that demonstrate outstanding outreach efforts during the year.
Newspapers can join the NFC coalition either by visiting http://www.andreweshapirocancerfoundation.org, clicking on the home page button for “Newspapers Fighting Cancer,” printing the participation form, and returning it to the Foundation or by emailing the Foundation at info@andreweshapirocancerfoundation.org and requesting participation materials.
ABOUT The Andrew E. Shapiro Cancer Foundation – Based in New York City, the Foundation was established in early 2006 as a creative, informational and fundraising resource for newspapers that are committed to engaging the communities they serve in efforts to promote cancer awareness, research, prescreening, prevention and patient support.
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