In the fifth year of its collaboration with Stand Up To Cancer® (SU2C), American Airlines is launching a monthlong fundraising initiative to support SU2C’s effort to make every cancer patien t a long-term survivor. When American Airlines AAdvantage® members in the United States donate $25 or more on StandUpToCancer.org/aa, they will receive 25 AAdvantage miles per dollar donated.
The latest initiative from American will support SU2C and its mission to accelerate the pace of groundbreaking translational research that can get new therapies to patients quickly and save lives now. To date, American and its customers have raised more than $10 million for SU2C to support innovative therapies, treatments and research for more than a dozen types of cancer.
Over the last five years, American and its team members have committed to Standing Up for those who are impacted by cancer through fundraising initiatives and events, as well as developing a special SU2C livery featuring 22,627 names of cancer survivors, patients and those we have lost to cancer.
“We know that our customers and team members are passionate about supporting Stand Up To Cancer because many of them have been impacted by cancer,” said Ron Defeo, Senior Vice President, Global Engagement. “We receive a lot of feedback and hear their stories of survival and perseverance. This fundraising initiative is one effort to ensure we live up to our purpose of caring for people on life’s journey.”
Flight Attendant Cody Summers is a breast cancer survivor and one of many team members who has shared her cancer story. Now three years cancer-free, Summers is living proof that advances in cancer research and treatment can help save lives.
“Despite my breast cancer diagnosis, I chose to fight. I had a strong support system who stood by me every step of the way,” Summers said. “At the end of the day, my cancer journey was just one chapter in my story, and the funds we’re raising are so important because it will ultimately help people just like me.”
Check out more of Cody’s story below and visit StandUpToCancer.org/aa to donate.
This Saturday, Summers will join SU2C and the entertainment community for its seventh biennial roadblock televised fundraising special at 7 p.m. CT. The special broadcast event will air simultaneously on more than 60 participating media platforms across the United States and Canada, including all four major broadcast networks in the U.S.
About Stand Up To Cancer
Stand Up To Cancer® (SU2C) raises funds to accelerate the pace of research to get new therapies to patients quickly and save lives now. SU2C, a division of the Entertainment Industry Foundation, a 501(c)(3) charitable organization, was established in 2008 by media and entertainment leaders who utilize these communities’ resources to engage the public in supporting a new, collaborative model of cancer research, to increase awareness about cancer prevention, and to highlight progress being made in the fight against the disease. As of January 2021, more than 1,950 scientists representing more than 210 institutions are involved in SU2C-funded research projects.
Under the direction of our Scientific Advisory Committee, led by Nobel laureate Phillip A. Sharp, Ph.D., SU2C conducts rigorous competitive review processes to identify the best research proposals to recommend for funding, oversee grants administration, and ensure collaboration across research programs. The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) is SU2C’s scientific partner.
Current members of the SU2C Founders and Advisors Committee (FAC) include Katie Couric, Sherry Lansing, Kathleen Lobb, Lisa Paulsen, Rusty Robertson, Sue Schwartz, Pamela Oas Williams, and Ellen Ziffren. The late Laura Ziskin and the late Noreen Fraser are also co-founders. Sung Poblete, Ph.D., R.N., serves as SU2C’s CEO, and Russell Chew as SU2C’s President.
