Aflac Expands 22-Year Commitment to Childhood Cancer With New Aflac Childhood Cancer Campaign™

COLUMBUS, Ga., Sept. 8, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- In honor of Childhood Cancer Awareness Month in September, Aflac, the leader in voluntary insurance sales at the worksite in the U.S. and longtime champion of the childhood cancer cause, today announced the launch of the Aflac Childhood Cancer Campaign. The program aims to provide innovative care and support for the nearly 16,000 children newly diagnosed with cancer each year in America.¹

"With a 22-year history of raising funds and awareness for the cause, we know that childhood cancer is too pressing to ignore and too big for any one organization to address alone," Aflac Foundation President Kathelen Amos said. "We applaud Aflac's independent sales agents, who each month give more than $500,000 from their commission checks, and we urge others to join the movement."

The new campaign is designed to engage Aflac employees, agents and the public to increase awareness, promote volunteerism and honor childhood cancer champions through initiatives that include:

• Social media: Aflac donates $2, up to $1.5 million, to The Aflac Foundation each time an individual creates, shares or interacts with a social media post using the hashtag #Duckprints.* Aflac's new "Selfless Selfies" campaign encourages those providing support and love to children with cancer to post their photos on social media using #Duckprints.
• Awards: Duckprints awards are presented to committed people across the country who leave big footprints in the lives of children and families facing cancer. Since its launch in 2013, the Duckprints initiative has honored more than 40 childhood cancer champions across the country.
• Website and merchandise: A new website, AflacCancerCampaign.org, features merchandise for purchase, with net proceeds benefiting The Aflac Foundation. Updated items include a new plush duck as well as T-shirts, travel and sippy cups, and more.
• Sponsorship: Aflac supports national events such as a conversation on cancer in collaboration with Atlantic Media and partnership with CureFest, a grassroots organization that aims to make childhood cancer research a national priority by hosting a rally in Washington, D.C., with the goal of unifying organizations that work in the childhood cancer space, increasing public awareness and building a legislative agenda to increase federal funding for childhood cancers.

About 4 percent of all federal funding for cancer research goes toward pediatric cancer,² even though research into adult cancers is rarely relevant to children. To help address this gap, Aflac has contributed more than $118 million to the childhood cancer cause since 1995. The company also sponsors the Aflac Cancer and Blood Disorders Center in Atlanta, helping make it one of the top children's cancer programs in the nation, according to the U.S. News and World Report.

"As a pioneer in cancer insurance, Aflac sees the terrible impact of the disease every day as we support our policyholders. So, it makes sense that the company's corporate citizenship commitment not only funds treatment, but social and emotional support for childhood cancer patients," Amos added. "With the Aflac Childhood Cancer Campaign, we strive to foster the long-term hope that comes from research while giving child cancer patients immediate comfort today, along with some of the simple joys of childhood."

To learn more, visit AflacChildhoodCancer.org.

*Related social actions include:
Twitter - $2 for any tweet using the hashtag #Duckprints or for retweets of Duckprints-related tweets.
Facebook - $2 for any share of posts related to Duckprints or using the hashtag #Duckprints.
YouTube - $2 per view of the Duckprints videos on YouTube.
Instagram - $2 for every post using the hashtag #Duckprints.

About Aflac
When a policyholder gets sick or hurt, Aflac pays cash benefits fast. For more than six decades, Aflac insurance policies have given policyholders the opportunity to focus on recovery, not financial stress. In the United States, Aflac is the leader in voluntary insurance sales at the worksite. Through its trailblazing One Day Pay^SM initiative, Aflac U.S. can receive, process, approve and disburse payment for eligible claims in one business day. In Japan, Aflac is the leading provider of medical and cancer insurance, and insures 1 in 4 households. Aflac insurance products help provide protection to more than 50 million people worldwide. For 11 consecutive years, Aflac has been recognized by Ethisphere as one of the World's Most Ethical Companies. In 2017, Fortune magazine recognized Aflac as one of the 100 Best Companies to Work For in America for the 19th consecutive year and included Aflac on its list of Most Admired Companies for the 16th time. In 2015, Aflac's contact centers were recognized by J.D. Power by providing "An Outstanding Customer Service Experience" for the Live Phone Channel. Aflac Incorporated is a Fortune 500 company listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol AFL. To find out more about Aflac and One Day Pay^SM, visit aflac.com or espanol.aflac.com.

Aflac herein means American Family Life Assurance Company of Columbus and American Family Life Assurance Company of New York.

Aflac media contact – Jon Sullivan, 706.763.4813 or [email protected]   

Aflac analyst and investor contact – David A. Young, 706.596.3264 or 800.235.2667, FAX 706.324.6330, or [email protected]

¹ National Cancer Institute
² National Cancer Institute, 2014

SOURCE Aflac