Global action to fight cancer took place across all continents on Friday, October 2, 2009, which was declared LIVESTRONG Day by the Lance Armstrong Foundation. The annual event is a global day of action to raise awareness about cancer.
This year's date held special significance as it marked the 13th anniversary of LIVESTRONG founder and chairman, cancer survivor and champion cyclist Lance Armstrong’s own cancer diagnosis.
More than 1,100 events were scheduled in each of the 50 U.S. states and across all continents with individuals and communities acting locally yet standing unified in support of the 28 million cancer survivors around the world. The organizers said, “The impact of cancer varies across regions and is so complex that no single person, organization or nation can solve it alone. LIVESTRONG Day is a day to take a stand against this global epidemic that claims eight million lives a year.”
LIVESTRONG Day 2009 events ranged from launching the foundation’s Global Cancer Campaign at the Austin City Limits Music Festival in Austin, Texas to a series of soccer matches in Shanghai, China to events with all 12 residents of South Georgia Island in the Antarctic Sea which hosted the first LIVESTRONG Day in the continent’s history.
More information about the Lance Armstrong Foundation can be found at www.LIVESTRONG.org.