Glendale, AZ. Phoenix lung cancer survivor-advocate Yovana Portilla represented Team Draft at State Farm Stadium on Sunday afternoon. Yovana and her godson, tailgated with LA Rams and AZ Cardinals fans, before watching the Cardinals take on the visiting Rams. After the game, Tucson lung cancer survivor-advocate Ron Crescenzo joined group at a dinner hosted by NFL Legend Ray Austin at, his restaurant, RKDA. #SundayFootball #RiseUPRedSea
I would like to extend my most heartfelt thank you to Chris Draft and The Team Draft Foundation for inviting and hosting my godson, Mark Wiltshire, and I at the Arizona Cardinals’ vs the L.A. Rams American Football Game on December 1st in Glendale, AZ. Tailgating with the other spectator fans was a great way to start off the day and get into the football game atmosphere! It is always humbling to be part of #TeamDraft’s changing the face of Lung Cancer campaign. The Team Draft Foundation has the most extraordinary platform in partnership with the NFL and is doing amazing and very important work for the Lung Cancer Community with its #survivorateveryateverystadium initiative. By inviting us, Lung Cancer survivor football fans, to be spectators in the stadiums of America’s favorite sport right alongside millions of other fans is showing the world that lung cancer can happen to anyone. It does not discriminate. It does not care about your gender, age, race, political status, religion or smoking history. And this is why research matters and should be of upmost importance. Everyone would want the latest research to be available for our Moms, our Dads, our sisters, our brothers, our daughters, our sons, our friends and our neighbors. Chris Draft and the Team Draft Foundation bring hope into a Lung Cancer Survivor’s life by making us feel that we matter and deserve a chance at life. ~Yovana Maria Portillo, Lung Cancer Survivor/Advocate
In 2012, we launched our inaugural Team Draft Survivor Series initiative on CNN during a nationally-televised prime time special focusing on lung cancer and our National Campaign to Change the Face of Lung Cancer. Our Survivor at Every Stadium, leverages our connections with the NFL, its teams and players with our relationships with many of the top cancer centers in the country. As a part of our International Campaign, the games allow us to celebrate our survivors, raise awareness, and give hope to those battling the disease, as well as shine a light on the important work being done at cancer research and treatment centers around the country.
Team Draft’s goals are to create a unique experience for participating survivors and to raise awareness on a local, national, and international level by using each game and each survivor’s story to weave a broader narrative about the state of cancer and the hope that now exists for those battling the disease.
Our 6th annual Lung Cancer Survivors Super Bowl Challenge kicked off on November 1, 2019. This unique fund raising challenge gives lung cancer survivors the opportunity to raise funds for public awareness and cutting-edge research that is giving new hope to those battling this often misunderstood disease. The top three fundraisers, announced on December 30, 2019, will earn trips to the Super Bowl, Pro Bowl and the Taste of the NFL.
The survivors earned the opportunity to share their powerful stories with key individuals with influence from across the country.
The lung cancer survivors that raise over $5,000 will be able to designate a beneficiary (Cancer Center or LC Organization) that will receive 90% of their raised funds (-fees) and the remaining 10% will support Team Draft’s mission to change the face of lung cancer.
Special thanks to the Arizona Cardinals, Ray Austin, Astra Zeneca, the NFL and all of our Team Draft supporters for helping make this event possible.
Donate now to Support the National Campaign to Change the Face of Lung Cancer!
