Celebrities, Lung Force raise their voices to support Lung Cancer Awareness Month

CHICAGO — As part of Lung Cancer Awareness Month this November, actress and author Valerie Harper, singer/songwriter Jewel, country music singer Kellie Pickler and female NASCAR standout Mackena Bell are teaming up with the American Lung Association's Lung Force to raise awareness and funds to help confront lung cancer in women.



Launched earlier this year, Lung Force — nationally presented by CVS Health — unites women against lung cancer and for lung health, encouraging them to raise their voices for change.



To help confront the issue of lung cancer, Harper, Jewel, Pickler and Bell are each launching their own online Lung Force virtual fundraising team where people can donate and raise money for lung cancer research, education and treatment. Anyone can register and fundraise for a celebrity Lung Force team by visiting Lungforce.org.



"Despite its overwhelming impact, it is clear that too few women are aware that anyone can get lung cancer," said Harold Wimmer, national president and CEO of the American Lung Association. "With greater awareness, through Lung Force, we are dedicated to increasing the Lung Association's investment in lung cancer research and are pushing to increase the investment in cancer research at the National Institutes of Health."



Lung cancer is the No. 1 cancer killer of women. Yet, the disease is not even on women's radar, according to the American Lung Association's inaugural Women's Lung Health Barometer — a survey that measured women's awareness, knowledge and perceptions about lung cancer. When asked to identify cancers that affect women, only 1% cited lung cancer on a top-of-mind basis.



Harper, known for her role as Rhoda Morgenstern in “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” and its spin-off, “Rhoda,” is a lung cancer survivor and Lung Force champion.



For her part, Jewel unveiled an original Lung Force anthem, "Sing On," earlier this year. The song is about empowering women and is available on iTunes, with all proceeds benefiting Lung Force and the fight against lung cancer in women.



Pickler has been part of Lung Force from day one. Lung cancer took the woman who helped raise Kellie, her grandmother, a woman she has called her angel.



And NASCAR's Bell, one of only four women drivers, is part of this fight, too. Mackena lost her grandfather, whom she called Papa, to lung cancer.