By ZACH DANE

ACS Volunteer

Did you know it’s National Volunteer Month?

When I started volunteering with Relay For Life in 2009, I had no idea how personal my connection to the cause would become.

My college roommate knew that I’d lost my mother, who never smoked, to lung cancer and encouraged me to get involved in Relay For Life. I was so moved by the event’s Luminaria Ceremony that I walked the entire night and have not stopped walking to help end cancer in the years since.

And then in 2024, four years to the day after I was featured on the American Cancer Society’s Relay For Life Facebook page for my fundraising efforts, I heard the same words my mom did: You have cancer.

No one ever wants to hear that they have cancer, but for me, the moment was bittersweet. I was diagnosed with chronic myeloid leukemia (or CML), and the treatment is a pill called Gleevec or imatinib.

This treatment is available thanks to research funded, in part, by the American Cancer Society and the support of donors like you. My Relay For Life fundraising, done in honor of my mother, ultimately contributed to the drug that treated my own cancer.

As it turns out, this was just the start of my journey with the American Cancer Society. I know how fortunate I am to have been able to make it to my own treatment.

So I recently became a certified Road To Recovery driver to help other cancer patients get to their appointments. It’s a simple thing I can do to help another person through a difficult time in their cancer journey by providing a safe and secure ride and a friendly shoulder to lean on for support.

I’m still in treatment and take my pill each day. The side effects can be rough, but they haven’t lessened my commitment to volunteering.

There are so many different ways to get involved with the American Cancer Society, whether you’re looking to volunteer once a week or once a year, whether you want to fundraise or advocate or help people with cancer in a more hands-on way. Volunteering has meant so much to me, and I know now how much it can mean to people facing a new diagnosis or treatment.

Zach Dane is a caregiver, survivor, and an American Cancer Society volunteer. April is National Volunteer Month; learn more about opportunities to help make a difference by visiting cancer.org/involved.

(Editor’s Note: The Relay For Life of the Greater Central Valley, open to all residents of Stanislaus, San Joaquin and surrounding counties, will be held over a 24-hour period from 9 a.m. Saturday, May 17 through Sunday, May 18 at 9 a.m., on the campus of Johansen High School in Modesto. Your participation and/or attendance is welcomed; Relay For Life is the signature fundraising event of the American Cancer Society.)