About Balloon Releases & Educational Rallies
Why balloons? Symbolic of our lungs, balloons help provide a light, pleasant atmosphere to share information about a dark and somber topic. Helium-filled balloons released into the heavens provide a visual representation of the magnitude of the problem and the sheer numbers of people diagnosed in every community.
Dusty Joy Foundation aspires to conduct lung cancer educational community rallies and balloon releases throughout the nation, through a network of advocates. First, we will make our way across the state of North Carolina and then expand into other states.
The Foundation uses only organic, biodegradable balloons. Read more about our environmental policy here.
Our rallies feature community speakers and promote education about lung cancer and warning signs. These events help reduce the stigma associated with lung cancer and increase compassion for those impacted by this disease.
Each balloon release is tailored to the host community, and represents local citizens diagnosed with lung cancer. In 2010, there will be approximately 220,000 new lung cancer diagnosis and 160,000 lung cancer deaths across the U.S. Statewide. The NC Central Cancer Registry projects 7,772 North Carolinians will be diagnosed with lung cancer and 5,914 citizens will die from the disease.
The Central Cancer Registry also provides county-by-county projections for new diagnoses and deaths. For example, 628 residents of Mecklenburg County were expected to be diagnosed with lung cancer in 2010, according to NC Cancer Registry. On June 18, Dusty Joy Foundation held an educational rally and released 628 balloons in Charlotte, N.C., Mecklenburg’s county seat.
Lung Cancer’s "Color"
Similar to breast cancer’s pink ribbon, lung cancer’s "color" is clear. Dusty Joy Foundation uses clear balloons to symbolize the number of lives lost to lung cancer in each community. Red balloons represent survivors. We chose the color red to signify the urgency of this cause, the life and heartbeat of survivors, as well as the heart of this organization.
The number of survivors is represented by subtracting the projected deaths from new cases in each community. Again, to use the Charlotte example, there were expected to be 628 diagnoses and 471 deaths from lung cancer. So during the Charlotte event, 471 clear balloons were released along with 157 red balloons.
Each rally is organized to gain greatest community involvement and impact. The media will be instrumental in reaching the public. The Foundation creates customized press packages with lung cancer data specific to each respective community.
Two volunteers in each community are needed to begin planning an event in that community. While the balloon release and rally are relatively easy to organize—compared to a 5K or dinner gala—community volunteers also commit to serve their community in ongoing basis, such as distributing lung cancer materials to their local cancer center. Find out more or sign up to join our Lung Cancer Community Volunteer Network. Collaborating and networking with volunteers in each community will help fulfill our mission.
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"Cancer Projections North Carolina [pdf]," North Carolina State Center for Health Statistics, 2010
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"Projected New Cancer Cases and Deaths for Selected Sites by County[pdf]," by the North Carolina Central Cancer Registry, 2/2010