Call on Congress 2025

Written by Cadence Paramore,
Colon Cancer Coalition Social Media & Content Specialist

 

I had the pleasure of attending Call on Congress this year, March 2025, alongside two of my colleagues– Colon Cancer Coalition President, Chris Evans, and Senior Director of Mission & Partnerships, Erin Peterson. 

Call on Congress is coordinated by Fight Colorectal Cancer (Fight CRC) and brings together colon and rectal cancer survivors, caregivers, and advocates from across the U.S. to raise their voices in Washington, D.C. With a schedule jam-packed with advocacy training sessions, the United in Blue Rally, and the final day of meetings with Congress members from each person’s state and district, the main mission of Call on Congress is to urge policymakers to act by supporting our collective mission to increase funding and research for colorectal cancer. 

Day 1

Chris, Erin, and I flew from Minnesota to Washington, D.C. on Saturday, March 8, and began our day bright and early on Sunday, March 9, by volunteering to help place the well-known blue flags into the lawn on Capitol Hill.

We spent hours helping to place the blue flags, all while getting to know the advocates and volunteers around us, many of whom were survivors and caregivers. While connecting with those around us, we were also well aware of the weight that each flag holds. Each of the 27,400 flags represents an individual under age 50 projected to be diagnosed with colorectal cancer in 2030. While it’s a striking, eye-catching, and beautiful display– it’s incredibly sobering and heartbreaking to see how much work still needs to be done. It’s a display that we should not have to create; one that should not need to exist. 

That evening, after joining one of our partners, Cheeky Charity, for an incredibly fun pre-event event, we all gathered with one of our other partners, Fight CRC, for their Mix & Mingle event. Multiple impactful speeches were given, and Fight CRC’s President, Anjee Davis, awarded our Colon Cancer Coalition President, Chris Evans, with the Community Advocacy Award for “being steadfast in fighting colorectal cancer and supporting the CRC community.” 

It was wonderful to meet members of other organizations, talk with more survivors and caregivers, and share stories. The energy in the room was palpable. Not only was everyone buzzing to be surrounded by such a powerful and supportive community, but we were all ready to use our voices to demand change. 

I had the pleasure of meeting two well-known, young survivors and advocates within the colorectal cancer community– JJ Singleton and Amy Hart. The first thing I remember is Amy’s smile and how she pulled me into a hug. As we talked about our experiences, hers with her own diagnosis and journey and mine as a caregiver for my mom with stage IV lung cancer, she gave me the wisest words I’ve ever heard and pulled me into another, much needed, hug.

That night I found out that the day before, a bill– the Defense Fiscal Year 2025 (FY25) Appropriations Bill– was brought to the House to adjust the budget for 2025 to decrease government spending. Many departments and programs had massive budget cuts proposed in this bill, one of which was to cut funding to Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (CDMRP) by 57%, essentially cutting all cancer research funding by more than half. 

I also met a young girl still in college who told me about her research into colorectal cancer, and how the job she had just received by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) was rescinded due to the current administration’s budget cuts. It was becoming clearer and clearer to me that events like Call on Congress are becoming increasingly necessary, now more than ever. 

 

If not us, then who?
If not now, then when?

 

Day 2

All day, there were Advocacy Training Sessions to learn how to make your voice heard, share your story, and prepare for congressional meetings. I popped in and out of meetings while helping man our Colon Cancer Coalition and Get Your Rear in Gear booth in the next room.

That evening, we gathered back on Capitol Hill for the United in Blue Rally. On the way, I had the absolute pleasure of meeting a young survivor I’d only gotten to know virtually until then– Danielle Gruberger. We talked the whole way and formed a fast, strong friendship. Not only is Danielle one of the most talented and creative people that I’ve ever had the pleasure of meeting, but we both had our first colonoscopies on the same day– February 14, 2024– and received vastly different results. It was simultaneously heartbreaking and heartwarming to share the similarities and differences between us, but it was unforgettable to have the opportunity and space to connect. 

At the United in Blue rally, we all laughed and cried together as each organization that partnered with Fight CRC spoke about the heart of why we were gathered there– to fight for more time. Colon Cancer Coalition President, Chris Evans, brought attention to the lawn behind her. To the flags.

 

“If you haven’t noticed or you’ve forgotten,” Chris spoke, “each of these flags is a person, these represent real people, and that’s why we’re here.”

After the speakers, including Congressman Mark Green (survivor) and Congresswoman Nikema Williams (daughter/caregiver), faux blue candles were passed around as Paula Chambers introduced survivor & Broadway singer, turned producer, Marisa Peters, and shared a tradition they have at the end of the United in Blue Rally.

As she sang, everyone was invited to shout out the name of the person we were there for– whether it was ourselves as survivors, a friend’s name, a family member’s name, or someone else. As Marisa’s beautiful voice carried across Capitol Hill and brought tears to everyone’s eyes, names rang out. I whispered, “My mom,” as the music faded and the sun set. 

 

Day 3

It was the earliest morning of the three when we bused back to Capitol Hill to take one last group photo before splitting into our state groups and attending our congressional meetings.

Our Minnesota group consisted of Erin Peterson, John Woerner, and me. Some states had much larger groups– like California, which had around 40 people. The three of us met with representatives from the offices of Senator Tina Smith, Senator Amy Klobuchar, Representative Tom Emmer, Representative Ilhan Omar, Representative Betty McCollum, and Representative Kelly Morrison herself. We also ran into Representative Angie Craig in Cannon’s hallway. 

Not only did we ask for funding for a designated research program for colorectal cancer, the only one of the top five cancer killers which does not have this, but we also asked each congressman to vote NO that night on the FY25 Appropriations Bill that decreased funding for cancer research by 57%. (This bill ultimately passed and was sent to the Senate).

Before leaving, we came across a group of advocates from New York in the cafeteria. As I was sitting across from a woman named Shynell, she told me about her daughter who was diagnosed with colorectal cancer at age 32 (she is now NED– No Evidence of Disease), and I told her about my mom. We shared their similar experiences of being ignored and turned away before their cancers were discovered. We both cried as we hugged each other before parting ways. 

 

—

This was what I told each Senator and Representative

“Growing up, I watched my single mom work multiple jobs to ensure that I was taken care of. I watched her get up before the sun and come home after it had set. We were each other’s best friend. Each other’s whole world.

Last year my mom watched me get engaged, and I watched when her tongue became paralyzed and she was misdiagnosed three times before they found a tumor at the base of her skull. She had been in untreated, unbearable pain for months before the diagnosis. 

I watched when she found out that it was stage IV cancer, metastasized nearly everywhere, and there was nothing we could do to fix it. This became her fourth battle with her fourth type of cancer, only this one will be the last. 

I watched as the resolution sank deep within her as the doctor said, “You maybe have a year. Hopefully more.”

All I can do is watch and be by her side as the effects of cancer ravage her and we approach that one year mark, and it’s becoming more apparent that she won’t be able to watch me get married.

I may be 24, but I’m not ashamed to say that I’ll always need my mom. I don’t think we ever stop needing our parents. 

No one should have to watch the people they love battle cancer or die from it, especially not when it’s colorectal cancer– which is 90% treatable and beatable when caught in its early stages. When colon cancer is the most preventable, yet least prevented, cancer– there’s a problem. 

Out of the top five cancer killers, colorectal cancer is the only one without designated research and funding. 

If my mom’s own journey has taught me anything, it’s that most people assume it will never happen to them. To their loved ones. To someone they know. But it can, and it does.”

—

I’d like to thank Fight CRC for hosting Call on Congress each year, for helping us bring up these issues surrounding colorectal cancer to our policymakers, as well as every other organization and person who attended this year. 

Together, I know that we can– and will– create change.

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