American Cancer Society, Assessment Example

The American Cancer Society has many volunteering and fundraising opportunities available to help in their fight against cancer. In our effort to support Relay for Life, my team, the “Black Hole Penetrators”, raised a total of $775.17 along with Team U-S-APhiO. However, we found that there is an indication that the time and effort spent on organizing the team fundraiser may have been disproportionate to their effectiveness in earning money for the American Cancer Society. Despite this, the event was enjoyable for all involved and although a large sum of money was not raised, the event did succeed in raising cancer awareness. Furthermore, activities such as the survivor’s lap emphasized that many individuals on campus were impacted by cancer and it is important for them to understand that they have a support group nearby. In the future, I plan to continue to volunteer for the American Cancer Society because I was able to observe firsthand the changes that they are able to make in the lives of cancer patients and survivors. Therefore, I plan to volunteer for their Road to Recovery program as well.

Overall, my volunteering experience provided me with insightful information that I believe will contribute to my success in other fundraising opportunities. Events such as Relay for Life are useful in raising disease awareness, but have high overhead costs that may prevent maximal fundraising ability. Therefore, it may be useful to have several small scale events in addition to this primary one to bolster the funds obtained. In addition, it is essential to ensure that these events are well organized so that each volunteer is aware of their precise job function before the event begins. As a consequence, I believe that my involvement in future volunteer opportunities will be increasingly successful.