The Nation's Leading Lung Cancer Organizations Join Forces to Launch "GO2 Foundation for Lung Cancer"

SAN CARLOS, Calif. and WASHINGTON, April 8, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Two of the most effective and influential nonprofit organizations serving the lung cancer community, the Bonnie J. Addario Lung Cancer Foundation (ALCF) and Lung Cancer Alliance (LCA) today proudly announced they are joining forces as the GO₂ Foundation for Lung Cancer. Together they become the "go-to" local and global force serving and advocating for the needs of the millions of people who are vulnerable, at risk or diagnosed, and all others impacted by or impacting the disease.

"We are thrilled to blend our talent, resources, commitment and compassion to create this powerhouse foundation," said Bonnie J. Addario, lung cancer survivor, Co-Founder and Chair of the Board of Directors of the GO₂ Foundation for Lung Cancer, and most recently Founder and Chair of ALCF. "The GO₂ Foundation will transform what it means to live with lung cancer and increase the patient survival rate of the world's number one cancer killer annually. Together we will continue to break barriers and save lives."

With more than three decades of combined expertise, a shared "patients-first" philosophy and complementary programming, the GO₂ Foundation for Lung Cancer launches with principal offices in the San Francisco Bay Area and Washington, DC. GO₂ Foundation will be maximizing resources and staff expertise, integrating and growing networks to reach and support more people, expanding patient-centered research, and amplifying awareness of the steep challenges and needs facing the lung cancer community.

"We are on the cusp of early detection and treatment breakthroughs that will forever alter the future of the disease," said Laurie Fenton Ambrose, Co-Founder, President and CEO of GO₂ Foundation, and most recently President and CEO of LCA. "We are seizing this moment to harness this energy and build greater capacity to reach more people with life-saving benefits, personalized care and comprehensive services that fulfill our credo to 'Empower Everyone, Ignore No One.'"

GO₂ Foundation priorities include:

• Serving the at risk, patient and caregiver communities through professional, credible, free patient-support services that include personalized screening, treatment and clinical trial navigation, molecular testing, peer-to-peer mentoring, and support forums;
• Advancing world class academic, community and patient-centered research that spans the continuum of care for lung cancer detection, treatment and survivorship;
• Empowering millions to take direct advocacy action for a health care system that puts the interests of people first to achieve historic increases in federal research funding, new treatment approvals and coverage and reimbursement for better access and delivery of care;
• Expanding access to excellence in screening, care, treatment and survivorship across all 50 states to ensure that anyone at risk or diagnosed with lung cancer benefits from life-saving services closer to home.

To help launch GO₂ Foundation's catalytic programs, a $15 million challenge grant is being provided in memory of Skip Viragh, a respected and successful financial entrepreneur who inspired those around him to seek innovative solutions and high impact results. This grant, the largest single gift ever for lung cancer, will support GO₂ Foundation's vital work to unite a community that empowers people, increases survival, drives innovative research, and changes the future of lung cancer. Additional funding for the merger was generously provided by the SeaChange-Lodestar Fund for Nonprofit Collaboration and individual matching donors. 

"I know that Skip would be pleased to see his donation going to a visionary organization that aligns with his 'can-do' spirit and strong sense of purpose that guided his life," said a close family member. "Like Skip, who always inspired his team to be strategic and think big, GO₂ Foundation embraces this same spirit to make the most profound impact ever on lung cancer survival. We hope this challenge grant in Skip's memory encourages other donors to step up and sustain this critical life-saving work."  

With this historic gift and combined forces, the GO₂ Foundation for Lung Cancer will transform survivorship as the world's leading organization dedicated to saving, improving and extending the lives of millions at risk for or living with the disease.  

For more information, please visit www.go2foundation.org.

SOURCE GO2 Foundation for Lung Cancer