The page Oprah Please Do A Show On Childhood Cancer – Our Kids Need Your Help has 24,804 ‘likes’ three weeks after its foundation on September 3. The tag line is: “If Facebook can get Betty White to host Saturday Night Live – let’s see if it can get Oprah to spotlight childhood cancer!”
The page explains that even though childhood cancers are the biggest cause of death for kids in the U.S., there is little awareness, fundraising or research done to combat it. “Childhood cancer is the #1 disease killer of kids under the age of 20 – yet it gets very little funding & awareness. Our hope is that this page will grow very large, very fast – and hopefully capture Oprah’s attention!”
Christine Barbour of Kansas City was inspired to start the page by the experience of one of her close friends Deliece Hofen whose young son Braden has a form of childhood cancer. Braden’s mother was recently diagnosed with breast cancer as well – and apparently learnt more about her cancer in the first hour than she did about Braden’s cancer in the first three years. A picture of the two of them is below.
There is also a press release about the campaign, highlighting the disparity in funding between childhood and adult cancers. (Of course, adult cancers are more common than childhood cancers, so this is obviously a complicated topic).
So far there has been no response from Oprah. While it’s likely that she has planned many of the shows for her farewell season already, I imagine that a story like this would speak to her – and 25,000 ‘likes’ in three weeks is nothing to be sniffed at either!
Speaking of Oprah, of course today was the day that Facebook CEO and founder Mark Zuckerberg made his guest appearance to announce his $100 million donation to schools in Newark. I didn’t catch the segment but according to ABC News, all went well and he managed to convey a “softer side”. Did any of you watch it? What did you think?
Source: All Facebook
Friday, September 24, 2010