Ethan Zohn Calls GiveForward a “Game Changer” For Those Fighting Cancer

"GiveForward is a game changer for those battling cancer and facing mounting medical expenses. I definitely recommend GiveForward to anyone wondering what they can do to help out when a friend or loved one is diagnosed." - Ethan Zohn, Cancer Survivor

A while back I had the chance to attend the OMG Cancer Summit for young adults in New York presented by I2Y and Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

While there were a ton of really great speakers at the Summit like Adam Ostrow, Brad Ludden, Tamika Felder, Jonny Imerman and Matthew Zachary, for me, the best was keynote speaker and former Survivor winner, Ethan Zohn.  Maybe it’s because Ethan and I both share the same name, a love of soccer and had fathers pass away from colon cancer at an early age.  Or maybe it’s simply because we both happen to rock the jew-fro, but something about his speech really hit home with me.

In 2009 Ethan was diagnosed with a type of cancer called non-hodgkins lymphoma. In his keynote, Ethan talked about how the first thing he did when he was diagnosed was go straight to People magazine to share his battle with the world. Whereas most people would have kept their battle private, Ethan knew that by sharing his battle, he would spread awareness and help get more young people diagnosed at early stages while the cancer is still treatable.

What really hit home for me about the keynote, however, is the fact that Ethan’s public battle actually led someone to GiveForward.  (Small world, right?).  During his speech, Ethan told a story about a young man named Ben who was diagnosed with non-hodgkins lymphoma after his mother read the People Magazine article and realized Ben the same symptoms. Shortly thereafter, Ben’s family started a Giveforward fundraising page and raised $2000 to help pay for Ben’s cancer treatments.  And not surprisingly, Ethan was one of the first people to donate to the page.  When I caught up with Ethan after the speech, I asked him about Ben’s fundraiser and what he thought about GiveForward.  Here’s what he had to say:

“GiveForward is a game changer for those battling cancer and facing mounting medical expenses. I definitely recommend GiveForward to anyone wondering what they can do to help out when a friend or loved one is diagnosed.”

“A game-changer”…We like the sound of that!  Thanks for the kind words, Ethan.  We’ll be keeping up with you and all the great work you’re doing for those in the young adult cancer community!