Volunteer Spotlight: Caleb Mohr

Role: ACT Lead for Oklahoma's 1st Congressional District

Home State: I was born in Beaumont, Texas, but since I've lived in Tulsa, OK since I was two I'd say I'm a Tulsan through and through :)

How did you first get involved with ACS CAN?  My friend from college Grace was involved in ACSCAN, she knew that I had a family history of cancer and that I was looking for direct, actionable ways to participate in our political system and she needed someone to represent CD1 at Leadership Summit and Lobby Day with very little time to find a person so she asked me if I'd be interested in coming onboard! 

How did you feel after that first meeting with a lawmaker? My first lawmaker visit was actually at Leadership Summit and Lobby Day, which felt quite intimidating.  I was worried if I said the wrong thing or phrased things incorrectly then our asks would be dismissed forever and I'd have catastrophically failed.  It can feel like there's some categorical difference between lawmakers and their staff versus ordinary people, but after that first meeting it clicked in my head that at the end of the day we're all just ordinary people doing our best day after day.  I think as I've experienced more lawmaker meetings I've realized that in office meetings are just one part of the puzzle and the truth is that consistent communication and engagement over time are the real meat of the grassroots lobbying sandwich.  Lawmaker visits, to me, feel more like the pickle on top, that last flourish of the process. 

If someone said to you “I am not a political person, why should I get involved?” What would your response be? This is a hard question to answer, but I feel like in general there's two types of people who don't get involved in politics.    The first, in my opinion, is the person who says politics doesn't affect them.  To them, I would argue that politics does impact every aspect of modern life, from the food we eat and the clothes we wear to the roads we drive on and the institutes we learn in.  Refusing to participate in the most basic way with politics (that is to say, voting in every election you possibly can, at the state, federal, and local level) and then complaining about the way the country is, is like refusing to ever change the oil on your car or rotate the tires and then wondering why your engine's on fire and your tires blown out.  Our most fundamental obligation to our country is to participate in votes, or we cease to be a government for the people and by the people.  And sure, there are some issues with the way our democracy works right now that can make it feel like your voice, your vote doesn't matter, but is it not more satisfying, more hopeful to at least try to make a difference?  I know I for one would rather take agency in my country than simply be swept aside by a tide of indifference.  

I think the second kind of person who doesn't engage politically is the kind who maybe feels overwhelmed by the process itself or by the sheer variety of issues in the world right now.  To them, I would say that I get it.  It can feel exhausting when the world seems to be actively spiraling out of control, or when it seems like just to participate you're expected to understand the complex, grand sum of all current events and have immaculate knowledge of the best way forward on every issue.  But the truth is there's no one out there that has the answer to every question or focuses on every issue all the time.  Even our lawmakers rely on teams of staff, each specialized in different special interests, to keep up-to-date.  I find, as someone with ADHD, that when one is faced with an overwhelming set of tasks, the best thing to do is simply focus on one at a time.  In the context of politics, that means rather than trying to fix the entire world all at once, try to fix one issue.  That's where special interest groups like ACSCAN come in.  I may have opinions on immigration, or tariffs, or our foreign relations, or our education policies, but where I spend my time and where I use my voice is in the fight to end cancer as we know it for everyone.   By keeping your focus narrow, you enable yourself to take meaningful action, and you keep yourself from burning out.  You don't have to fight cancer (although I'd like you to ;)), just find the issue you're most passionate about, search on the internet for an organization that helps tackle that issue and whose values you agree with, and get cracking! 

 What types of things do you do as a volunteer for ACS CAN? One of my favorite things I've done as a volunteer with ACSCAN has to be our community engagement events.  I've been working to get us more involved in the Tulsa community, and one of the ways I've been working on that is to get us in at the Tulsa Farmer's Market.  It's been a slow but steady increase in engagement; last year we went to the market just once for cancer votes and this year, we'll have two different booths over the course of the year.  It's been great to introduce people to ACSCAN and to show people that they can help fight cancer in little, actionable ways every day. This year, I've also piloted a walk and talk office visit, where myself and other volunteers form a sort of roving, activist gang walking from one senate office downtown to the other.  When we were experimenting with our walk and talk this spring it was with people who had never volunteered with ACSCAN before, and it was a great opportunity to both immediately engage them in the volunteering process while training them in an exciting and fun way.  As we move into the fall and winter of this year, I'm hoping to renew my goal of recruiting more volunteers in CD1, and I think the walk and talk model Grace and I are developing will be a great tool! 

Why will you continue to advocate for cancer patients?

Because our voices matter! It’s not only our right—but our responsibility—to speak up about healthcare. Advocacy allows us to stand together and demand the care and support that every patient deserves. The fight isn’t over, and I’ll continue raising my voice until it is.