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Indiana State Lead Ambassador
Christine Yoder
Christine Yoder has been an ACS CAN volunteer for 8 years and has been involved with ACS for 10 years. She currently serves as the Town Council President in Shipshewana. Christine has dedicated most of her adult life to community service. A wife, mother to four birth children and seven fosters, and two of the cutest twin grandsons you have ever seen. She leads the Indiana volunteer team with fierce passion, while advocating for cancer patients and their families.
Why are you a cancer advocate?
In 2013, I was diagnosed with cancer. The following year I attended my first ACS Relay for Life. By 2016, I had been introduced to ACS CAN. I found my rhythm and stride through advocacy. This is where I feel I can make the most impact. Nothing feels better than knowing a lawmaker listens to you and that you are helping to drive policy that will make cancer look different than the way we have always known it. With every cancer diagnosis I hear, I become fiercer and more determined. Every contact with lawmakers fuels my hope. My Grandmother taught me the phrase: Don’t waste your blessings. I have learned through cancer; I do not want to “waste my sorrows”. I make them count. I will turn them into something good.
What is your proudest accomplishment as an ACS CAN volunteer?
Last year, I had several proud moments. We met with a U.S. Representative, who ended up cosponsoring a bill because of our visit. A notably conservative state lawmaker, voted for the tobacco tax after a meeting with me and other ACS CAN advocates. Lastly, I am very proud of a meeting I had with a U.S. Senator over coffee. We talked through his concerns on a tax until he finally saw the value and agreed with my point of view. My voice, my story, and my presence make a difference.
Why is being an ACS CAN volunteer important to you?
Advocacy matters to me on several levels. The driving force behind my advocacy is my 11-year-old grandson Ollie, that is enduring a second round of medulloblastoma. He has been through so much, lost so much and still smiles. The trauma of cancer and cancer treatment on Ollie, his twin Gabe, and all of my family can be almost unbearable. That’s why being an ACS CAN volunteer and your State Lead Ambassador is so important to me. I do it for Ollie. I do it for you, for your children and grandchildren. Because cancer shouldn’t be a word a child hears, and it surely shouldn’t be a death sentence.
Want to join me in the fight against cancer? Fill out this form to sign up to be an ACS CAN volunteer in Indiana.