NC State Lead Ambassador
Robert (Bob) Schechner
NC State Lead Ambassador
“Next to marrying my wife, Carla, and raising two wonderful daughters, Stephanie and Heather, representing the American Cancer Society (ACS) is the most richly rewarding thing I’ve done,” says Raleigh resident Bob Schechner about his eleven years as a volunteer with ACS.
Bob was spurred into action after his own battle with colon cancer. Originally a resident of New Jersey, he relocated to Raleigh, NC in 2007. In his home state he began volunteering with ACS during the winter and spring of 2001 when he traveled to the State House in Trenton, NJ to testify before legislative committees as an ACS grassroots advocate to help pass pending colorectal cancer screening legislation. Bob’s efforts paid off and the bill was signed into law. The law requires NJ insurance companies to pay for colorectal cancer screening tests according to the guidelines of the American Cancer Society. “My goal is simple,” he says, “Save one person. If I can do that, then I have done something worthwhile.”
Bob testified on numerous occasions before the NJ Senate Budget Committee, urging increased funding for the Comprehensive Tobacco Control Program and the NJ Cancer Education and Early Detection Program which provides low-income and uninsured men and women with breast, cervical, prostate and colorectal cancer screening.
He has been Advocacy Chair at more than a dozen Relay For Life events recruiting many volunteers to help support ACS legislative efforts.
Bob was a Celebration on the Hill Ambassador and served at both events in 2001 and 2007. He lobbied Congress on four occasions where his efforts were aimed at making lawmakers keep the eradication of cancer a national priority. In 2006 he earned his Federal Advocacy Action Certificate of Achievement from the Eastern Division.
While in Raleigh he joined the Smoke-Free North Carolina campaign, Co-Chaired the Leesville/Brier Creek/RTP Relay For Life event, a new event in 2010. In addition, he was the Cancer Prevention Study-3 Chair at that same event in 2011. Bob currently serves on the ACS Raleigh Leadership Council and previously served on the ACS Northwest New Jersey Region Board of Advisors.
Bob is looking forward to working with the North Carolina ACT! Lead volunteers, as well as advocacy volunteers to ensure that the state and federal legislative priorities of the American Cancer Society and American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network are met.
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