Cynthia Hoyle on Safe Routes to School

Cynthia Hoyle is a local transportation planning consultant who works with CUMTD, Safe Routes To School, and the local cycling community. She is also a cancer survivor.

On May 13, 2008, Champaign-Urbana residents and cancer survivors will have the opportunity to join the Lance Armstrong Foundation to raise awareness about cancer issues.

An event is being organized in Champaign-Urbana as part of 500 LIVESTRONG Day events to be held across the country to increase awareness and show support for cancer survivors and their loved ones.

On May 13th local LiveSTRONG Day Organizers in Champaign-Urbana are sponsoring ?Bike for Life Day? to encourage people to bike, instead of driving, and to wear yellow to show their support for cancer survivors. Local LiveSTRONG Day Organizers in Urbana-Champaign include C-U Safe Routes To School Project and Mettler Center. The local event will include activities at Meadowbrook Park beginning at 6 p.m. at the Garden Pavilion and include registration, reading of the City of Urbana Proclamation, a special message from Lance Armstrong, and two bike rides. One ride will be the 3-mile loop on the Meadowbrook Trail and the other will be an 8.8 mile loop south of Meadowbrook Park.

The week of May 12-16 is also ?Bike to Work Week? and many people will be cycling to work instead of driving. Cycling not only can improve your personal health, but also reduces our carbon footprint and helps to improve the health of our planet.

Participating in LIVESTRONG Day is important to me because of my own experience with cancer and the many experiences of family and friends who are survivors. It is an honor to have the opportunity to support cancer survivors and encourage people in Champaign-Urbana to unite together to end the needless death and suffering from the disease that kills more than 20,000 people a year in Illinois. Illinois has the 14th highest overall cancer incidence rate in the United States.

In year?s past, Lance Armstrong Foundation delegates have advocated in Washington, D.C., to ask that our nation?s leaders invest in resources, treatment and services for people affected by cancer and to emphasize the importance of making cancer a national priority. This year the foundation has decided to shift the focus from legislators and lobbyists to the American people in their local communities. We believe that by uniting people in the fight against cancer we will remind our decision-makers that their constituents care about cancer and demand change.

The Lance Armstrong Foundation (LAF) unites people through programs and experiences to empower cancer survivors to live life on their own terms and to raise awareness and funds for the fight against cancer. The LAF focuses on cancer prevention, access to screening and care, research and quality of life for cancer survivors. Founded in 1997 by cancer survivor and champion cyclist Lance Armstrong, the LAF has raised more than $250 million for the fight against cancer. Join 60 million LIVESTRONG wristband wearers and help make cancer a national priority. Unite and fight cancer at LIVESTRONG.org.