Thirty-five Iowans named “Celebration Ambassadors” head this week to the nation’s capital to benefit people fighting cancer. Beth Ballinger will be one of them. She says volunteer ambassadors from all fifty states will go to Washington, DC, and meet their congressional delegations to bring them the cancer society’s message of advocacy. It will be a large-scale version of an event held in many local communities. Ballinger says this is the first time ambassadors will hold one event “on the hill,” and she’ll be there with a very personal story:She’s had two brothers die of cancer, one from leukemia as a child and the other of melanoma at age 34, and a third brother is a cancer survivor.But she’s also a surgeon and takes care of cancer patients. Ballinger says she sees how the disease affects patients, their family and friends, and disrupts their lives. The American Cancer Society Relay for Life Celebration on the Hill will feature a tent for each state on the capital Mall on Thursday, September 19.
