Vicksburg’s Pearl Carter will be in Washington, D.C., as a volunteer for the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, along with volunteers from every Congressional district is the U.S.

Along with American Cancer Society staffers, these volunteers, who will number more than 600, will meet with senators and representatives to ask for funding for cancer treatment and research and to make fighting cancer a national priority, Carter said.

During her D.C. visit, Carter and the other volunteers will take part in an evening Lights of Hope Ceremony at the Lincoln Memorial.

Carter and the other volunteers have raised money for Lights of Hope, and in doing so, will honor loved ones who have survived cancer or will remember loved ones who lost the battle.

Carter said these Lights of Hope serve to remind her that each of us can be a light for a cure for cancer.

“This ceremony is always very emotional for me because, as you know, I am a cancer survivor and so many of my family and friends have also had to deal with this devastating disease,” Carter wrote. “I would love to take many bags with my friends’ and families’ names on them and bags for my friends and family who want their friends and families to have a light shining in the Capitol, remembering and celebrating them as we all stand in unity for a cure for cancer. I will be there in person, but will be representing each of you and your loved one in spirit!”

Carter was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1990, which she said was a wake-up call for her. Since that time, she has been a tireless volunteer, helping others who have been diagnosed with cancer, and raising money and awareness for the disease.

She knows first-hand the emotions of those who are faced with a cancer diagnosis. Her breast cancer diagnosis was not her only cancer battle. She was diagnosed with leukemia in 2010, a battle she still fights, and again with breast cancer in 2014.

We can help Pearl and honor or remember our friends and family members who have battled the disease at the same time by purchasing a Light of Hope. But we need to hurry. We have until Monday, Sept. 10, to get our donations and information to Carter to include at the Lights of Hope Ceremony in Washington, D.C. on Sept. 25.

Honoring or remembering someone at the ceremony is easy. You can do it online at acscan.org/canraiser and use your credit card for the donation. Click on the Get Started under the Lights of Hope picture. Enter Pearl W. Carter’s name under “Support a Participant,” then click on her name, then on donate, then fill in the blanks.

Or, you can make your donation directly through Carter by mailing your check, made payable to ACS CAN, to Pearl W. Carter, 700 Porters Chapel Road, Vicksburg MS 39180. Each Light of Hope donation is $10. If you are sending a donation directly to Pearl, please include the person’s name and whether your donation is in honor of them or in memory of them.

Pearl could use our support, and every donation gets us closer to being rid of this horrible disease once and for all.

Jan Griffey is general manager of The Vicksburg Post. You may reach her at jan.griffey@vicksburgpost.com.