Northern Illinois Walk/Run Targets $100,000 In Fundraising For Oral Cancer Awareness This Sunday

CHICAGO, Oct. 2, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Participants at the 3^rd Annual Oral Cancer Foundation Walk for Awareness of Northern Illinois will attempt to shatter their own world's record by raising $100,000 to support the cause of oral cancer awareness. The first two events raised approximately $70,000 and $88,000, respectively.  The amounts are believed to be the most ever raised for oral cancer awareness walks.

This year's event, which will take place from 8:00 a.m. until 1:00 p.m. on Sunday, October 5 at Redmond Park, located at 735 East Jefferson Street in Bensenville, Illinois, will feature a 5K walk, a 5K run with age category awards, live entertainment, face-painting, and more.  Free oral cancer screenings will also be provided by licensed dentists and registered dental hygienists.  The event will also include a "50/50 Split the Pot" raffle as well as a silent auction featuring signed sports memorabilia, game tickets, jewelry, artwork, professional dental products, and restaurant gift cards.

Inspirational speaker and oral cancer survivor Eva Grayzel will kick off the walk/run and then conclude the event with a free one-hour continuing education course for dental professionals.

To generate momentum for the event, volunteer teams have been actively giving back to their communities by performing free oral cancer screenings on over 1,400 people at a variety of venues in northern Illinois.  The cost of these screenings has been made possible by the financial support from walk/run participants.

The event is being held on the same day as the inaugural Oral Cancer Foundation Walk for Awareness of Southern Illinois, which is taking place in Carbondale, Illinois. Those wishing  to register for or make a donation to either event may do so at http://donate.oralcancer.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=donorDrive.event&eventID=599. Supporters can organize their own fundraising teams. The individual who raises the most money over $2,000 statewide will win an iPad Air provided by Oral Cancer Foundation.  The dental practice team that raises the most money will win a FREE VELscope Vx oral cancer detection system.  

Helping the Oral Cancer Foundation increase the public's awareness of the threat posed by oral cancer is the primary goal of the event.  The disease does not get a great deal of media attention, yet it takes a life every hour of every day in the U.S. This year alone, approximately 43,000 Americans will be diagnosed with oral cancer, making this the eighth consecutive year there has been an increase in the occurrence of the disease.  Oral cancer deaths are increasing despite a significant reduction in tobacco usage over the past several decades, as an alarming number of cases are now being caused by the sexually-transmitted human papillomavirus, or HPV.  As a result, the disease is now affecting more young males and females than ever.

The main problem is that oral cancer is most often discovered in late stages, when the five-year survival rate is roughly only 50 percent.  Moreover, for those who do survive, the highly invasive treatment regimen of surgery, radiation and chemotherapy that is typically required often leaves them severely disfigured and with permanent difficulty in eating, speaking and swallowing.  The good news:  when found early, oral cancers have an 80 to 90% survival rate and generally require much less invasive treatment.   One key to early detection is for everyone 18 years and older to receive an annual oral cancer screening, which can be part of a regular dental hygiene check-up.

"An annual oral cancer screening takes only a few minutes, is completely painless, is very affordable, and just might save your life," said Alison Stahl, RDH, Regional Coordinator for the Oral Cancer Foundation.  "If we can help people realize this, we can help make oral cancer history."

About the Oral Cancer Foundation
The Oral Cancer Foundation is a non-­profit 501(c) 3, public service charity that provides information, support, research funding and advocacy related to this disease. It maintains a web site at http://www.oralcancer.org, which receives millions of hits per month. At the forefront of this year's agenda is the drive to promote solid awareness in the minds of the American public about the need to undergo an annual oral cancer screening, and an outreach to the dental community to provide this service as a matter of routine practice. Supporting the foundation's goals is a scientific advisory board composed of leading cancer authorities from varied medical and dental specialties, and from prominent cancer educational, treatment, and research institutions in the United States.

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SOURCE Oral Cancer Foundation