Andy Shapiro was always going somewhere. Throughout his 40-year career with Metro, he attended hundreds of conventions, conferences and trade shows, made innumerable presentations and met with countless newspaper executives all with one purpose — to show how newspapers can make money with Metro. And he always did it with gusto because he believed in both his product and his customers’ products. Andy understood the power of newspapers.

At his last appearance at the Newspaper Special Sections Network (NSSN) conference in August 2005, Andy once again took the podium, this time to accept the Helm-Colucci Lifetime Achievement Award for his outstanding contributions to newspaper special sections. Despite the poignancy of the occasion, Andy seized the opportunity to do what he did best — to show newspapers how to do good work and make good money at the same time. He called on newspapers large and small to use their influence in the fight against cancer. Everyone in the audience listened closely, and no one listened closer 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.

Over the past two months, the Foundation has taken shape and been transformed from an idea into a reality. Its purpose, however, was clear from the start, having been inspired by Andy’s own words: to engage newspapers in driving more aggressive research and the development of cancer prescreening technologies to ensure early cancer diagnoses. To achieve this goal, the AESC Foundation will rely on two major strategies: raising consciousness and raising funds.

Spreading the Word
Newspapers are at the heart of the communities they serve. From that unique position, they have the power to bring together the activities of the various local cancer-related organizations and businesses to forge cohesive, productive and profitable approaches to educating the public about cancer detection and prevention. With support and guidance from the AESC Foundation, newspapers are also perfectly situated to play a central role in community fundraising efforts.

The AESC Foundation Web site will serve as a networking area for ideas to help newspapers throughout North America raise awareness and funds. It will feature stories of successful programs, events and products submitted by newspapers that can be accessed and shared by other newspapers. The site will also include links to content developed by the American and Canadian Cancer Societies. Proceeds from these projects will benefit the papers and their communities. Newspapers can also choose to donate a portion of the proceeds from these projects to organizations such as the AESC Foundation. All donations made to the AESC Foundation will be combined into an annual contribution on behalf of the newspaper industry as part of the Foundation’s “Newspapers Fighting Cancer” initiative.

“Newspapers Fighting Cancer”
“Newspapers Fighting Cancer” (NFC) is an initiative that brings together newspapers from across North America to raise money for and awareness of cancer prescreening and prevention 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 every newspaper — dailies, weeklies, shoppers, and both paid- and free-circulation publications — in the fight against cancer through its annual “Dollar Drive.”

The AESC Foundation will provide participating newspapers the info-rmation 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 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. Talk about HEADLINE NEWS!

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.

The American Cancer Society and Canadian Cancer Society have agreed to support the AESC Foundation and the Newspapers Fighting Cancer initiative. Cancer resources and materials, available both in print and online from both organizations, will provide you with information to share with your readers on preventing, surviving and/or living with cancer. The AESC Foundation will present awards, in conjunction with the American Cancer Society and Canadian Cancer Society, to newspapers in recognition of outstanding efforts. The American Cancer Society will work with its 13 divisions across the country to help you in your outreach efforts.

To join the NFC coalition, go to www.andreweshapirocancerfoundation.org and click on the home page button for “Newspapers Fighting Cancer” and print out the PDF participation form, which should be completed and returned to the AESC Foundation. Or, simply contact the Foundation via email at info@andreweshapirocancerfoundation.org and request participation materials.

To be sure, NFC is a big idea with big goals. By pooling our ideas, insights and experiences, there is no doubt that those goals can and will be achieved. We hope that you and your newspaper(s) will join the coalition and contribute to the ongoing battle against cancer.