For Peter O’Connor, the glowing bags that line Morgan Memorial Park represent far more than a fundraising campaign. Behind the lights are the family members he has lost to cancer — and the medical advances he credits with giving him a different prognosis.
The American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network held its second annual Lights of Hope celebration at Morgan Memorial Park in Glen Cove, bringing together cancer survivors, caregivers, advocates and families to honor those affected by the disease and remember those who died.
“Cancer hits just about every family,” O’Connor, an ACS CAN volunteer, said.
For his family, the losses have been extensive. O’Connor said his father died of brain cancer when he was a teenager. His mother later died of kidney cancer, his brother of myeloma and his wife after her own battle with cancer.
O’Connor has also faced cancer himself. He has twice been diagnosed with prostate cancer and said he was diagnosed late last year with an early stage of myeloma — the same disease that killed his brother.
But the experiences of the two brothers have been dramatically different, he said, in part because of advances in cancer research and treatment.
When his brother had myeloma, O’Connor recalled, the family was essentially told there was nothing that could be done. His own cancer, however, was detected early, and doctors told him numerous treatments are now available.
“I learned that with myeloma, it went from being a terminal disease to a treatable, manageable disease,” O’Connor said. “There’s been so many advances.”
That experience has made protecting cancer research funding one of his priorities.
“People’s lives depend on that,” O’Connor said. “I probably wouldn’t be standing here today without that change.”
Lights of Hope is ACS CAN’s signature fundraising and awareness program. Participants purchase and decorate illuminated bags in honor or memory of people affected by cancer. The organization is the advocacy affiliate of the American Cancer Society and works with lawmakers on issues including cancer research, screenings, patient access to care and Medicaid coverage.
For Diane Porcello, participating this year became especially personal. Her 75-year-old brother, Charles Haug, was recently diagnosed with kidney cancer, while his wife, Ellen Williamson, was diagnosed with breast cancer within the past several years.
Porcello decorated a bag for the couple, who live in North Carolina, and even baked brownies as an incentive for others to support the fundraiser.
“That’s basically why I’m here, for support,” Porcello said, “and then to have a bag to encourage my brother and his wife.”
Lexy Mealing, ACS CAN’s New York state lead ambassador, said the organization seeks to give patients, survivors, caregivers and volunteers a voice in government decisions affecting cancer care.
Those decisions, advocates said, can determine whether patients receive screenings, can afford treatment or gain access to potentially lifesaving resources.
O’Connor said his own experience illustrated those disparities. He had access to specialists and advanced diagnostic technology, choices he said are not equally available to everyone.
“There are people on Medicaid who can’t do that,” he said. “And they suffer the consequences for it.”
That is why, for O’Connor, the lights filling Morgan Memorial Park carry a message extending beyond remembrance.
“That’s what we’re involved in,” he said. “That’s what we’re advocating for.”
