Stand Up To Cancer announced that more than $81 million has been pledged so far in connection with its star-studded September 7th roadblock fundraising telecast to accelerate ground-breaking research and bring new treatments to patients as quickly as possible, including pediatric cancer patients through the creation of a new pediatric cancer research Dream Team.

SU2C, an Entertainment Industry Foundation (EIF) initiative, is still gratefully accepting donations at www.su2c.org and at 1-888-90-STAND (78263). The telecast is available at www.hulu.com/stand-up-to-cancer. The broadcast, dedicated to the nearly 13 million U.S. cancer survivors, featured Gwyneth Paltrow, Julia Roberts, Matt Damon, Michael Douglas, Jessica Biel, Samuel L. Jackson, Jeremy Renner, Seth Rogen, Emma Stone, and SU2C Co-Founder Katie Couric. Taylor Swift, Coldplay, Alicia Keys and Tim McGraw delivered one-of-a-kind performances as they joined with cancer survivors and other celebrities to engage viewers with powerful stories and a moving call-to-action.

ABC, CBS, FOX and NBC donated one hour of simultaneous, commercial-free primetime for the nationally televised fundraising special, which was broadcast live from the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. Cable channels Armed Forces Network, BIO, E!, ENCORE, HBO, HBO Latino, ION Television, LMN (Lifetime Movie Network), Logo, MLB Network, mun2, Palladia, SHOWTIME, Smithsonian Channel, STARZ, STYLE, TBS and VH1 also generously donated their air time.

Building on two historic fundraising telecasts in 2008 and 2010, these star-studded appeals garner public support for groundbreaking translational research accelerating the delivery of new therapies to patients, getting them from the "bench to the bedside" as quickly as possible. SU2C brings together scientists from different disciplines across various institutions to collaborate. One hundred percent of all public donations will go directly to cancer research. The 2008 and 2010 SU2C telecasts have been viewed in more than 190 countries and raised more that $180 million dollars. SU2C has made grants to seven multi-disciplinary "Dream Teams" of researchers as well as to 26 young innovative scientists who are undertaking high-risk, potentially high-reward projects to end the reign of cancer as a leading cause of death in the world today. Sixty-eight institutions are currently involved.

Stand Up 2 Cancer's Mission Statement:

Here we stand, on the verge of unlocking the answers that will finally conquer the devastation that is cancer.

We now understand the very biology that drives cancer. With knowledge gained from the mapping of the human genome, we can now target the genes and pathways that are involved in turning normal cells into cancerous ones. We are on the brink of possessing a toolbox full of new, advanced technologies just waiting to be adapted to benefit patients. Right before us, so close we can almost touch them, are scientific breakthroughs in the prevention, detection, treatment and even reversal of this disease.

Cancer takes one person every minute. One life in a moment. They are our brothers, our sisters, our fathers and mothers, our husbands and wives, our best friends, our children, ourselves. Every day in America, 1500 people die and yet the means to save them are literally within our reach. To wait any longer for someone else to save our lives and the lives of those we love is unforgivable.

Inspired to act by our own personal experiences with cancer, we recognize that we can no longer rely on the current system alone to give us the breakthroughs we need. So, we are calling on the public to help take matters into our own hands, investing in a revolution that will change the way scientist and clinicians work to understand and treat these diseases. Stand Up To Cancer is more than a rallying cry. It is a galvanizing force created to urgently move cancer research forward.

This is where the end of cancer begins: when we unite in one unstoppable movement and Stand Up To Cancer.

Working with the top experts in cancer research, Stand Up To Cancer is forging a new way to develop breakthroughs that will end cancer. We're putting together the best and the brightest minds in cancer research those on the edge of accomplishment investing in their projects and taking the bureaucratic obstacles out of their way. We are building interdisciplinary Dream Teams of scientists, clinicians, technicians and other experts, who will focus on a specific cancer problem. We'll track their progress in real time, so that everyone who invests can see how their participation is creating real change.

YOU CAN INVEST IN SCIENCE, INNOVATION AND THE END OF CANCER! Donate Here

You're seven. You're on the playground, playing tag.

"Tag! You're out!!"

"You didn't touch me, I'm not out!"

"Yes I did too! You're out."

You know how the rest goes. There is an argument, perhaps a push or a shove, perhaps tears, teacher mediation, teacher frustration, finally a visit to the one-and-only Principal's Office.

This situation is not uncommon on playgrounds across America. Recess has been referred to as "horror time" by some teachers, a half hour of complete chaos characterized by fighting, wrestling, punching, screaming, and madness. In fact, this allotted time has become so unmanageable and inefficient that many schools have either had to drastically decrease recess or eliminate it all together. In a Gallup survey, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation found that 89% of discipline-related problems happen during recess and lunch; 77% of principals report using taking away recess as a punishment for kids. As a result of these issues and poor academic performance, one fifth of those surveyed have had to reduce or do away with the recess time altogether.

However, poor academic performance, behavioral problems, and health issues are all related. Recess and play in general have been proven to be critical to a child's social and academic development during those elementary years. Most principals have said that students are more focused and more attentive after having recess.

Jill Vialet knows play: Play is her (it) Factor. Since she graduated from Harvard University, she has been engaged with different aspects of play and physical activity in the context of public service. Before founding Playworks, Jill spent her time running a collegiate public service program, coaching soccer in Cambridge, being a camp counselor, and teaching Eskimo children how to swim in Alaska. For Jill, play is a precious commodity, one which she has spent the last 45 years trying to share with others.

Jill's vision is simple, and her execution is brilliant. Through her organization Playworks, Jill believes that one day, every child in America will have access to safe, healthy play, every day. Playworks creates a structured recess experience for elementary school-aged children by establishing trained, full-time young adults as coaches on campuses. Through basic sports and cooperative games, these coaches create an environment which fosters sportsmanship, health and fitness awareness, focus, and fun.

EFFORT
As of this fall, Playworks will be operating in 250 low-income schools across 15 cities in the United States, with a goal of increasing those numbers to 650 schools across 27 cities by 2012. The road to this success and scale, however, was not always a "walk in the playground," so-to-speak, and has been a journey that has required enormous passion and drive on behalf of its founder and her staff. "There was a point where I really didn't know which way I was going to go. And it was super hard...But I really do believe that you have to maintain a sense of humor and be humble and recognize that this is your one chance to make a difference."

STRENGTH
Jill believes that change in the world depends on unreasonable people, and she identifies her 120 AmeriCorps staff coaches as being the most unreasonable of all. She says, "Playworks has grown over the years not because of my unreasonableness, but because the young adults who come to work for us go out into the playgrounds and they, through the power of play, discover themselves as changemakers."

Jill's "Changemaker" mindset has allowed Playworks to expand nationwide and led her to be elected as an Ashoka Fellow. Her social entrepreneur was present long before Ashoka, however. She recalls being told by her high school basketball coach to always bend her knees. Since high school, she has continued to live life with "bent knees" because it means she will have to lead with her legs, which are the strongest parts of the human body. "Creating the preconditions that compel you to lead with your strength is a huge part of the battle. It's setting yourself up to do what you do best and remain super focused."

ENDORPHINS
The reason Playworks does indeed work is because it utilizes a bottom-up approach. Jamila Hornesby, a Playworks coach, commented that the kids "don't need someone saying 'Don't do this, and don't do that.' They need someone saying, 'This is how we're going to play the game today.'" Playworks gives kids this structure and gives them the opportunity to play in a fun and functional way. Recess, when managed effectively, puts children into what Jill Vialet calls "The Play State." Because they are doing something different and exciting during a physical activity, their heart rate will go up, releasing endorphins into their body, resulting in happy and energetic children who are more likely to engage and participate in the classroom. However, when an educator revokes a child's right to recess, she only limits that child's ability to focus and succeed academically and socially. Indeed, in the Play State, kids are more aware and more engaged, both on the playground and in the classroom. This flexibility, spontaneity, creativity and improvisation that recess can include is where brilliance really comes from, claims Jill.

FAIR PLAY
Remember that seven-year-old playground spat during a game of Tag? Imagine if you had thought about solving that through a simple game of Rock, Paper, Scissors. Playworks has ingeniously utilized this super problem solver, which gives kids the ability to learn leadership skills, conflict resolution, and social skills with students of different age groups.

TEAMWORK
Playworks is designed to foster positive relationships between classmates on the playground. Not only are Playworks staff engaged with the kids in cooperative experiences, but the Junior Coaches Program has been created to give older students, 4th and 5th graders, the opportunity to design and lead recess activities.

Playworks could not exist without the team of AmeriCorps members which make up the majority of the staff. AmeriCorps, which is, essentially, a domestic Peace Corps, allows graduating college students the opportunity to give 1700 hours of service to an organization for one year in exchange for a living wage stipend and an education award to be used towards tuition or other academic expenses.

Thanks to the success of the Playworks recess programs and the hard work of the AmeriCorps volunteers and other staff, Jill Vialet and her team are now collaborating with the White House Office of Social Innovation, the Department of Education, and the Department of Health and Human Services to increase the scale of impact on the climate of schools throughout the nation.

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What's the difference between creativity and art?

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BUILDING FOR THE COMMUNITY

In collaboration with Habitat for Humanity of Greater Los Angeles, Music for Relief is helping to fund and build a house in Lynwood for a deserving family in need. The home will be built to LEED specifications and will encompass a number of environmentally savvy features and green building techniques. While green building practices can add to the initial cost of construction, these costs are not passed on to the new homeowner, so there is no extra financial burden for them now, but does provide energy savings for them in the future! This very noble and conscientious project requires your help. What can you do? MFR has a special site set up and is asking every individual to donate just $5 to this cause. Check out the site, you can learn what your donation goes towards -- buy a box of nails, a light fixture or the kitchen sink! As of this writing, they have raised $36,551 of the $150,000 needed for the project, or 24%. This is an excellent project that will not only help a family in need but also help forward sustainable building practices for this type of housing.

[MF_150] On January 14th, (it) Magazine was there for MFR and Habitat's Green Home Build Day. It was a fantastic experience for our staff and we were able to work with a number of amazing individuals who gave up a day to help a family in need. Members of Linkin Park took time from their busy schedule to come out as well, and were swinging hammers with the rest of us! We were able to put up a large amount of siding on the houses and help finish off framework on the second story. During the build, we were blessed to meet Betty Monroy, a mother of three who recently worked with Habitat volunteers to build her own new home. Mrs. Monroy was on site at the new green home to tell us about the impact that her home had on her family and quality of life. It was amazing to meet someone who had their life directly changed by the efforts of organizations like Habitat for Humanity. Needless to say, this was a very moving and overall extraordinary day. Thank you to everyone who made it out for the build! Just remember, the work there is not complete -- MFR and Habitat need your help. Donate or volunteer today!

To make your $5 contribution go to www.musicforrelief.org/habitat or text HOUSE to 90999.

P.S. No one said you have to donate JUST $5 :)

Founded by the band Linkin Park, Music for Relief is a non-profit organization dedicated to help with disaster relief and mitigation, and we all know there are many areas in need and much work to be done.

The oil leak in the Gulf Coast that began following a deep water oil rig explosion on April 20th is still occurring. As the oil slick reaches the coastal wetlands, fragile ecosystems and the animals that inhabit them are in danger. In partnership with Voice of the Wetland and For the Bayou, Music for Relief is supporting the important humanitarian and environmental assistance that is needed in coastal Louisiana now and for the years to come to restore and protect our critical wetlands. Visit the Voice of the Wetlands (VOW) or For the Bayou websites to make a donation, or support Music for Relief and VOW's Send Dirt campaign by texting DIRT to 90999 and make a $5 contribution via your mobile phone. Or if you would like to volunteer with the oil spill cleanup, find opportunities to do so here.

Following the Southern CA wildfires in 2007 Music For Relief made a donation of $50,000 to Direct Relief International that was matched by SanDisk to help victims of the wildfires. Major League Baseball donated $25,000 to the organization last year. MFR also sponsors numerous tree planting projects all over the world and organizes environmental campaigns that help individuals recycle, conserve energy, and lower their carbon footprint. $1 per ticket from Linkin Park's China concerts in 2009 were donated to the Million Tree Project to help reforest the Inner Mongolian Desert. This is a fantastic organization that has done wonderful things for the world and around the world -- get involved!

WHY IS MUSIC FOR RELIEF IMPORTANT?

Take a look at their list of accomplishments over the past five years:
> They have raised over $3,500,000 in donations for their causes;
> In 2008, over 95% of the funds raised went directly to disaster relief and environmental programs; only 4.7% of those funds were used for administrative and fundraising purposes;
> Music for Relief has planted over 810,000 trees worldwide to sequester more than 270,000 tons of CO2;
> Not only do they do their part to help the environment, they have created environmental programs that educate people in reducing their carbon footprint.

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Get more information about current projects and learn how you can volunteer at upcoming MFR events here. Or, read more from (it) magazine about MFR's green home build in conjunction with Habitat for Humanity Los Angeles and get involved today!

About Music for Relief: Founded by two-time Grammy winning and multi-platinum rock band Linkin Park, Music for Relief is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization dedicated to providing aid to victims of natural disasters and the prevention of such disasters. Since its inception in 2005, Music for Relief has raised over $4 million for victims of multiple disasters across four continents including the 2005 Indian Ocean tsunami, hurricanes Katrina and Rita, wildfires in Southern California & Victoria Australia, China's Wenchuan earthquake, a cholera outbreak in Zimbabwe, and the January 12, 2010 Haiti earthquake. Music for Relief also supports environmental programs to help in prevention and mitigation of future natural disasters such as the Send Dirt campaign for wetlands protection and restoration and the Million Tree Project in China's Inner Mongolia Desert. MFR has planted over 810,000 trees to help reduce global warming. For more information on these programs and Music for Relief, CLICK HERE.

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A CASE FOR INCLUSIVE EDUCATION: Before his son Samuel was diagnosed with cerebral palsy, photojournalist Dan Habib rarely thought about the inclusion of people with disabilities. Now he thinks about inclusion every day. His award winning documentary film, "Including Samuel," chronicles the Habib family's efforts to include Samuel in every facet of their lives. The film honestly portrays his family's hopes and struggles as well as the experiences of four other individuals with disabilities and their families. Currently airing on Public TV nationwide, "Including Samuel" is his very personal effort to inspire the public -- especially anyone connected to education -- to talk about inclusion in a more informed and innovative way. Here he shares his story, his passion and a wealth of resources with (it) magazine.

Four years ago, my son, Samuel, lay in a medically induced coma. He was four years old and had developed pneumonia from complications following a tonsillectomy surgery. As I waited by his bedside, one of his doctors, Dr. James Filiano, encouraged me to photograph the experience, perhaps as a way of managing my fear. It was the moment that I began to move towards filmmaking, a new direction for me both professionally and personally.

I began working on Including Samuel, a 58-minute documentary that was released nationally late last year. As a director and as a father, my experience with making the film not only helped me face my fears, but also my biases. The project became my outlet for processing this new reality in our lives. We had a child with a disability.

When Samuel was about one, we found out that he had cerebral palsy, which means his brain has trouble controlling his muscles. He uses a wheelchair and it is difficult for him to talk.

My wife Betsy and I would stay up at night, comparing notes: What did Samuel do better that day? What did he do worse? We weren't new parents; we had an older son, Isaiah, then four, but our youngest child's disability tested us in new ways.

"How can he get a full education and go to college when he can't hold a pencil?" Betsy wondered aloud.

I made Including Samuel to chronicle our family's efforts to include him in our neighborhood school, in the sports programs and social activities intrinsic to our community, in the daily routines of our family -- every aspect of our lives. Samuel's journey is the central thread through the film, and I wanted viewers to learn a lot about him beyond the fact that he has a disability:

He wrestles with his brother. He loves t-ball. He wants to be an astronaut when he grows up. Yet Samuel is only nine, and including him will likely become more and more challenging as he grows up. So I also made this film to learn from the experiences of other people with disabilities who can look back on the choices they and their parents have made, and to see how these choices have shaped their lives.

Including Samuel also documents the experiences of four other subjects: Keith Jones, Alana Malfy, Nathaniel Orellana, and Emily Huff, along with their families, educators, other students and their communities as a whole.

ECHOES OF A PAST STORY
This tale began 20 years ago when, as a newbie staff photographer with the Concord (NH) Monitor, I photographed a story at one of the first local elementary schools to include kids with disabilities in mainstream classes. I cared about the topic, but it didn't have much personal relevance to me at the time.

Today, Samuel is in fourth grade at this school, Beaver Meadow, and I think about inclusion every day.

Being Samuel's dad has forced me to look at my own prejudices. When I saw people who couldn't walk or talk, what crept into my head? It's painful to admit, but I often saw them as less smart, less capable, and not worth getting to know. Now I wonder Is that how the world sees Samuel?

Betsy and I decided to attend the University of New Hampshire Institute on Disability Leadership Series to learn how we could be more effective advocates for Samuel. We heard from disability rights leaders such as Norman Kunc, who spoke about his right to be disabled. Norman said that if he were offered a pill to cure his cerebral palsy, he wouldn't take it.

"I would have to start my identity all over again," he said. "I like who I am, I like the work I do."

The Leadership Series helped us to see Samuel's disability as an intrinsic part of who he is.

GETTING TO INCLUSION
As a father, I wanted to show the general public why I felt so strongly that inclusion is the most important factor to giving Samuel and other children with disabilities the opportunity for a happy and fulfilling life. As a journalist, I didn't want to sugarcoat the issue. I wanted the film to be as complex as the reality of successful inclusion.

I also hope they will get to know Samuel at the same time.

Making this film helped me envision the life we want and expect for Samuel. We have a supportive network of teachers, therapists, relatives and friends who help us work towards that goal every day. And there is Samuel himself whose smile and persistence make clear his own vision of happiness.

Samuel brought the disability rights movement into our home. It came with lots of questions: Can we continue to fully include Samuel as he goes to middle and high school? What about the times when illnesses force Samuel to miss weeks or months of school? As an adult, will he find a mate? Will he get a job that he likes?

I don't know the answers to those questions right now. But I do know that Samuel loves life. He loves to laugh and he loves the Red Sox. He's determined to keep up with his brother, and to be a part of everything that we do.

I know that he will teach a lot of people, which is good because the world has a lot to learn.

###

Dan speaks with us about finding (it) for him:

(it): How did you find your passion and turn your particular life situation into national work on this issue?

DH: My parents are activists. They modeled that through their work (my dad is a retired professor and my mom a retired social worker) and through their activism (I probably went to 4 major rallies in D.C. before I was 13). They passed on their values to their 3 children: primarily a belief that we are here to make a difference in this world. Making "Including Samuel" is consistent with what I've tried to do my whole career: take a complex -- and often controversial -- issue, and try to tell the story in a way that is a catalyst for informed discussion. Often, that leads to social change. In the past, I didn't care so much where the discussion led -- my passion was providing our readers with a more in-depth perspective through my journalism.

"Including Samuel" is a far more personal project than I had ever done before. As a photojournalist, I had always pointed the camera at other people. Documenting my own family's story was different. As I launched this project in 2008, I felt so strongly about inclusion that I left journalism and became an advocate as well as a documentarian. I couldn't be an advocate while in journalism, and didn't aspire to become one. It was when this issue hit me so personally that I realized it was ok to tell people how I felt as a father, and where I hope the world evolves in terms of disability rights and inclusion.

(it): Who are your influences, heroes or mentors?

DH: When I was a teenager I fell in love with photography. I'd get home after going out with high school friends and set up my tripod and take pictures of the night sky, or cars streaking past snow banks with long exposure photographs. I lived near NYC and I'd take the bus in and go from one photo gallery to another. The 57th Street galleries and the International Center of Photography were my places of worship. Work by great photographers filled the walls -- Andre Kertsz, Susan Meiseles, Bruce Davidson, Josef Koudelka -- there were dozens and dozens of exhibits every time I went to the city and I lapped it all up. I'd save my money to buy photo book after photo book and pour over them for hours.

In 1992 I took a course at the Maine Photo Workshop with Eugene Richards that changed the direction of my career, and led me to pursue longer documentary projects. Richards was an important mentor, as was the incredibly talented photographer Pat Garrett. John Kaplan, a Pulitzer Prize winning photojournalist who won when he was just a few years out of college, took me under his wing when I was at University of Michigan studying Political Science. He's become a close friend.

As I've gotten older my heroes are not photographers now as much as they are great documentarians, activists and change agents: Studs Terkel. Martin Luther King. Helen Keller. Lincoln. Rosa Parks. FDR. Obama. The many, many great disability rights leaders working right now for change. And it may sound corny, but my wife and two boys inspire me more than anyone else living or dead.

- (it) -

CALL TO ACTION! Learn more about inclusion and how you can find ways to support disability rights by going to www.includingsamuel.com or go to the Make It Happen page now for easy action steps and informative resources.

Dan Habib directed, produced and shot the award-winning "Including Samuel". Habib is the filmmaker in residence at the Institute on Disability at the University of New Hampshire. Until April 2008, he was the photography editor of the Concord Monitor. In 2006 he was named national Photography Editor of the Year for papers with circulations of 100,000 or less. His freelance work, including extensive documentary work in China, has appeared in numerous publications, including Time, Newsweek and The New York Times. He and his family live in Concord, NH.

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A leader in corporate responsibility since 1992,

Dowser: What critical or urgent problems are you trying to address as the head of BSR?

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