The White Ribbon Project

Michelle Hills, one of the founding members of The White Ribbon Project, passed away today.

Michelle was there in the earliest days of this movement, helping build an organization, a community, a place where people affected by lung cancer could find one another, raise their voices, and know they did not have to stand alone.

The White Ribbon Project has always been about people. About seeing the person beyond the diagnosis. About replacing stigma with compassion, isolation with connection, and despair with hope. Michelle helped make that vision real.

There are people whose presence becomes woven into the fabric of a community so deeply that their absence is impossible to measure. Michelle is one of those people. Her place in the story of The White Ribbon Project will always remain.

Tonight, our hearts are with Michelle’s husband Tim, her family, her friends, and everyone in the lung cancer community who loved her and walked alongside her. Our hearts are broken.

We will continue to raise ribbons, tell our stories, and stand beside every person affected by lung cancer.
And we will carry Michelle with us as we do.

Because this movement was built on connection, and the belief that no one should ever face lung cancer alone.

Michelle helped us build that community in many ways.

We will miss her deeply, remember her always. and in her honor, we will keep going. She would want that. 🤍✨🫁💔

Thank you Michelle, for changing the way people see lung cancer.

Anyone with lungs can get lung cancer, and no one EVER deserves it.

🤍

Big energy, hope and youth momentum. 🫁🤍✨

Join us for The White Ribbon Project Community Call this Saturday, September 19, from 12:00–1:00 PM Eastern.

We’ll kick things off with a few exciting updates from TheWRP, then welcome:

Dr. Alfred Astua, Chief of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at NYC Health + Hospitals/Elmhurst, will help us understand the history of lung cancer screening, why the guidelines are the way they are, and thoughts for people at risk in underserved communities.

Isabella Astua, a high school student already jumping into lung cancer awareness and making an impact.

Alex Potter, bringing updates from ALCSI and the growing momentum of youth-led advocacy.

The next generation is showing up, and we are here for it. Their energy, curiosity, and commitment give us so much hope.

Come listen, learn, ask questions, connect, and leave feeling inspired.

We hope you’ll join us.

Join Zoom Meeting:
https://zoom.us/j/95747503292?pwd=yKiCLoz3naplGcYfpXVDQlt9oTZ2Ck.1
Meeting ID: 957 4750 3292
Passcode: 814387

San Francisco, The White Ribbon Project is coming your way! 🫁🤍✨

The White Ribbon Project is grateful to partner with GO2 for Lung Cancer for the 18th Annual 5K Walk/Run on Saturday, September 20, 2026.

White ribbons will be available for distribution as symbols of awareness, hope, support, and community.

Join us as we walk, run, remember, and raise awareness for everyone affected by lung cancer.

Anyone with lungs can get lung cancer, and no one ever deserves it.

Today, we remember September 11.

We honor the lives lost, the families forever changed, the first responders, recovery workers, survivors, and all who continue to carry the impact of that day.

For many, 9/11 did not end when the towers fell. Its aftermath continues through grief, trauma, respiratory illness, lung cancer, and other cancers and serious health problems linked to exposure in the days, months, and years that followed.

As a lung cancer community, we know how deeply illness can change a life and a family. We also know the importance of awareness, compassion, advocacy, and making sure those affected are seen, heard, and supported.

We stand with all those affected, with compassion and empathy.
We will never forget.

Survivorship, surveillance, and the whole person always matter.

The White Ribbon Project is grateful to GO2 for Lung Cancer for creating space for this important Lung Cancer Living Room: Survivorship and Surveillance.

People are living longer with and beyond lung cancer, and that is something to celebrate. But living longer also means we need better conversations about follow-up care, long-term side effects, scans, scanxiety, emotional health, and what life looks like during and after treatment.

This conversation is for patients, survivors, care partners, clinicians, advocates, and everyone who believes lung cancer care must support more than the scan.

Date: Tuesday, September 15, 2026
Time: 5:30–7:30 PM PT / 8:30–10:30 PM ET
Livestream presentation: 5:30–6:30 PM PT / 8:30–9:30 PM ET
Location: Virtual or in person in San Carlos

Register here:
https://events.go2.org/2026SeptLivingRoom

Anyone with lungs can get lung cancer, and no one ever deserves it.

Check out the upcoming Lung Cancer Living Room®: Survivorship and Surveillance! I'll be tuning in to the Lung Cancer Living Room®: Survivorship and Surveillance. If you or a loved one is facing a diagnosis, I highly recommend joining too!

Every step can carry hope. Every breath can carry purpose.

Lace up. Show up and breathe. 🫁🤍

Register for the Save Your Breath 5K Run/Walk hosted by Free ME From Lung Cancer.

Date: Sunday, October 18, 2026

Location:
Kennebec Valley YMCA
31 Union Street
Augusta, ME 04330

This is a chance to gather, have fun, walk, run, remember, and take action for everyone affected by lung cancer.

Events like this bring people together with purpose: honoring those we love, supporting people living with lung cancer, raising awareness, and helping move research and early detection forward.

Thank you to Free ME from Lung Cancer and Deb Violette for creating this meaningful community event.

Sign up here:
https://runsignup.com/Race/ME/Augusta/SaveYourBreathAugusta

Anyone with lungs can get lung cancer, and no one ever deserves it.

Nashville, The White Ribbon Project is coming your way! 🫁🤍✨

We are grateful to GO2 for Lung Cancer for the opportunity to partner at the GO2 Nashville 5K Walk/Run this Saturday, August 29.

A huge shoutout to Leslie LaChance for officially representing The White Ribbon Project at this event. Leslie will have TheWRP white ribbons available for distribution. We are proud to provide these symbols of awareness, hope, support, and community free of charge for everyone affected by lung cancer.

When: Saturday, August 29, 2026
Registration/check-in begins at 7:30 AM

Where: Centennial Park – Parthenon Ellipse Oval Lawn
2500 West End Ave, Nashville, TN

Your participation and fundraising help provide one-on-one assistance, screening and treatment navigation, and support research to accelerate cures and change this disease from one of stigma to one of hope.

Thank you, GO2, and thank you, Leslie, for helping carry this mission forward in Nashville.

Anyone with lungs can get lung cancer, and no one ever deserves it.

We are grateful to Lisa Spain and Rexanna's Foundation for sharing this conversation and helping bring more awareness, hope, and heart to the lung cancer community.

One voice turned into many, and a movement, The White Ribbon Project was born in 2020 and keeps growing!

Every story shared matters. Every conversation helps someone feel less alone. Every effort to raise awareness moves us closer to a world where lung cancer is better understood, less stigmatized, and more fully supported.

Thank you, Lisa, for your kindness, your work, and your commitment to the lung cancer community.

Please watch and share:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8FutOcbb0w

Anyone with lungs can get lung cancer, and no one ever deserves it.

She Was Told to Get Her Affairs in Order — Then She Started a Movement In this episode of the Hope Forward Podcast, host Lisa Spain sits d...

This is what living with lung cancer looks like.

Laurel’s stage IV EGFR lung cancer diagnosis came out of nowhere. No cough. No wheeze. No shortness of breath. Her lungs sounded clear.

It started with vision and cognitive changes. Trouble navigating the city where she was born, losing words, and her brain not registering what she saw in her left field of vision.

An eye exam lead to an MRI in the ER. The ER lead to scans, a biopsy, and a diagnosis: stage IV lung cancer with a primary tumor in her left upper lobe, lesions in both lungs, 11 brain metastases, spine metastases, and an adrenal metastasis.

Two weeks earlier, Laurel had been traveling in France and Spain.

That is lung cancer. It can be silent. It can be sneaky. It can completely upend a life.

But Laurel is still doing all the things.

She pursued biomarker testing, started osimertinib and chemotherapy at , sought a second opinion at UT MD Anderson Cancer Center, asked hard questions, advocated for herself, went camping, made treatment decisions, and kept living.

And she recently rode in , Hutch Cancer Center’s annual fundraiser, raising more than $7,000 and helping contribute to the incredible $7.4 million raised for cancer research.

That is hope in motion.
That is advocacy in action.
That is Laurel, LIVING WITH LUNG CANCER.

Research matters. Biomarker testing matters. Self-advocacy matters. And every breathtaking moment matters.

Anyone with lungs can get lung cancer, and no one ever deserves it.