Many survivors are identified through our local houses of worship.  If you contact the religious leader, or church office, they may not want to give out names but are usually more than willing to share forms and information with their congregation.  Sometimes even an announcement in the Sunday bulletin.

Remember that respecting survivor's privacy is very important, so before you do any of these, remember not to make someone uncomfortable!

Here are some ideas on locating survivors:

 

<!--[if !supportLists]-->· <!--[endif]-->Look for Survivors at the Locations that they Frequent! - Place Relay Information at hospitals, doctor’s offices, support groups, pharmacies, etc. Those locales have high survivor traffic. Keep a list of places like that around town.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->· <!--[endif]-->Ask the Survivors you have on what survivor related groups they are exposed to – Doctors, Support groups, etc. – have them take information to those places.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->· <!--[endif]-->Set a goal for each team to have a certain # of survivors… - Give each team a goal of how many survivors they must recruit, just like fundraising and everything else! One Relay doubled the # of survivors in a year this way…

<!--[if !supportLists]-->· <!--[endif]-->Search online for local support groups and other Cancer-related groups that might be interested – Support groups or other organizations will often have websites or on-line info.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->· <!--[endif]-->Have local hospitals put info in their cancer wards about Relay and your survivor reception

<!--[if !supportLists]-->· <!--[endif]-->Advertise for survivors in the “Community Section” of your local newspaper or Penny Saver – these ads are free often!

<!--[if !supportLists]-->· <!--[endif]-->Hold a Survivor’s Breakfast or Dinner – Several months before your event, hold a survivors’ breakfast or dinner and invite all the support groups in your area, post signs at local hospitals, etc., post signs at doctor’s offices, and so on. Invite your committee and seat at least one of them with each of the tables of survivors who come… Talk to them about Survivorship and Relay, and see if they will be involved!

<!--[if !supportLists]-->· <!--[endif]-->Contact the following resources:

<!--[if !supportLists]-->· <!--[endif]-->ACS Speaker Bureau – they will know survivors – some may be in your area!

<!--[if !supportLists]-->· <!--[endif]-->Reach to Recovery program

<!--[if !supportLists]-->· <!--[endif]-->Cancer Survivor Support Group – have them talk at a team captain’s meeting or the event to build a relationship with them.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->· <!--[endif]-->Cancer Survivor Network

<!--[if !supportLists]-->· <!--[endif]-->Have each survivor bring a friend who is also a survivor – Survivors often know others who have also battled cancer… Ask them to invite friends to a team captain’s meeting, kickoff, or the event!

<!--[if !supportLists]-->· <!--[endif]-->Survivor Interest Story in the Newspaper – “I have found the best way to get the word out is in the newspapers as a public interest story and having them use your email to get the addresses…” Thanks to Eileen!

<!--[if !supportLists]-->· <!--[endif]-->Start a Yahoo or Google Group on-line that survivors can find if they want to to talk to others – “Start a Yahoo group that links people together with a common interest.They are public access and easy to search and easy to run and can spread by word of mouth.” Thanks to Eileen

Email rflvolunteer@gmail.com for more ideas including this list in MS word.

 

 

Ramesh Moorthy Webmaster, acsrelay.org, Ideas for Volunteers Blogging about Relay at acsrelay blog Volunteer Content Advisor, SA Division Relay Web rflvolunteer@gmail.com