Verification stage now!

 We are in the verification process of the signatures. We need 150 valid signatures before the BMV will start production of the license plates. I have 40 complete signatures and 39 that have missing information. If they can be verified they will be valid signatures. Bringing a total of 79 of the 150 needed!

Funds from the ZERO The End Of Prostate Cancer license plates will stay in Ohio to provide free patient navigation services to reduce financial toxicity among prostate cancer and free transportation for prostate cancer patients to doctors appointments

Hopefully, soon our prostate cancer license plates will be available!

Please feel free to email me for the form as well. The form can be scanned and emailed back or It can be sent to me via USPS.

Linda@zerocancer.org

This beautiful Prostate Cancer and charm could be yours!

To be eligible to win this you need to get 7 valid signatures on one form. To be considered all lines of the form needs to be filled out.

7 valid signatures = ! entry to the drawing for the Prostate Cancer bracelet and charm!

Prostate Cancer Awareness and Education

Whereas, this year approximately 248,530 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in the United States alone every year and roughly 34,130 will die this year from the disease; and

Whereas, in Ohio an estimated 73,320 new cases of prostate cancer will be diagnosed and an estimated 25,140 deaths will occur; and

Wheres, In 2021, a man will die from prostate cancer every 15 minutes. A man will be diagnosed every 2 minutes. And 1 in 8 men will develop prostate cancer; and 

Whereas, Men with relatives – father, brother, son – with a history of prostate cancer are twice as likely to develop the disease; and

Whereas, Prostate cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in American men, behind only lung cancer; and

Whereas, Men who served in the military who have been exposed to chemicals and herbicides are at a higher risk for developing prostate cancer; and

Whereas, Education regarding prostate cancer and early detection strategies is critical to saving lives, preserving, and protecting our families. 

Whereas, The economic and social hardship it has on the families is huge; Prostate cancer is estimated to cost over $8 billion in direct medical expenditures: and

Whereas, Nearly 3.1 million men in the U.S. are living with a prostate cancer diagnosis; that number is estimated to climb to 4 million by 2024 as men in the baby boomer generation age; and

Whereas, all men are at risk for prostate cancer and we encourage the citizens of (City) to increase the importance of prostate screenings.

 

Bureau Of Motor Vehicles process

 During this time waiting for our Bill to makes its way through the Legislation. process. I began working on the form needed by the Breau Of Motor Vehicles. Just go to your BMV website and search Organizational license plates and see what the process is for your state. I recommend printing all the needed forms on the website. One thing I did was to get a notebook and page protectors for when there was something I want to print out. This was great to take with me to meetings, reference,  or when someone asked me about the Bill. Most of this can be found online through the Legislation website. 

Ohio requires 150 signatures of support before the BMV will start production of the license plates. The necessary form needed asks for your name, address, phone number, plate number, and driver's license number, and signature. It can be found on the website as well. They suggest getting more than the 150 signatures just in case a signature is considered invalid for some reason or another. The form online has space for seven signatures, but some people are hesitant to sign the form as others can see your information. I took the form and folded it down for one signature printed it out and have people sign that one if they are hesitant. With the form, I post it to social media platforms for getting signatures and tell them they can send it back by email or in the mail. We attended a Cocktails for a Cause last month and took the forms with us for people to sign. I printed off the multiple forms and also the single form with my contact information on both. You can upload the form to a PDF filler site and add your information. This is what our license plates look like when they are put into production. Once we get the needed signatures and the names have been verified through the BMV they will be available for a car near you. This process may take time. The person I'm working with at the BMV said it could take months and even may take years. I am doing my best to get it done in months and not years. My car needs a new tag! 

Usually, events are great places to get signatures. I take a clipboard, and pen with me and ask for signatures of support. Use social media when you can. Ask your family and friends to share with their network. The more people you have helping the sooner you will get the needed signatures.  

Cut in half and make two forms

Introduction of the License plate process

 People ask me how I went about getting the Prostate Cancer license plates done. In 2009, I noticed there are no license plates for prostate cancer. I was going to do my best to change that. In 2012, ZERO The End Of Prostate Cancer reached out to me for all of my advocating for prostate cancer. So this is one of the steps is having the backing of an organization that will receive the funds from the license plates. The next step was to work with our Representatives at the Ohio Statehouse. I contacted Representative Richard Brown who is our district representative. I reached out to him through social media and asked to meet with him. At the meeting, I shared my journey as a wife of a prostate cancer patient and survivor. As well as Ray shared his as a patient and survivor. Representative Brown also shared that his family had been impacted by prostate cancer in his family. He graciously accepted to introduce the Bill for ZERO The End OF Prostate Cancer license plates. We needed a Representative from both sides of the Ohio Statehouse. Ray worked with Representative Scott Lipps at the Columbus Veterans Administration before he was elected to the House Of Representatives. Again Representative Lipps graciously accepted to be a Co-sponsor. So now we had a Democrat and Republican to Sponsor and to Co-sponsor the Bill.

 

Our bill started out as House Bill 570 in 2018. On June 20, 2018 it was introduced by Representtive Brown and Representative Lipps. As our Bill made its way though the Ohio Statehouse we were invited to attend the meetings. Unfortunatlly we were not able to attend due to medical appointments. The date June 20 is a special day for us. We met on June 20, 1983 maybe this was a sign it was going to pass and become law! It took two years to make its way thirough the Statehouse and changed to House Bill 107. In 2020 our Bill was added to an Omnibus Bill and was finally passed with Senate Bill 163. On October 22, 2020, it was signed into law by Governor Mike DeWine. 

 

How it started

On June 19, 2009, my husband Ray was diagnosed with an aggressive form of prostate cancer at the age of 56. After the initial feeling of hitting a brick wall. I had never heard of this cancer. Men don't like talking about it. I am also the mom of four sons. He had no family history. Ray is the oldest of three sons. The only thing we can put some of the pieces together on how this might have occurred. When he graduated he entered into the United States Air Force. He joined as a Firefighter and then cross-trained into Weather. In the military, you are exposed to many chemicals and herbicides which have proven to be harmful over time. One of the major chemicals that was used in the military was Agent Orange. This was mainly used in Vietnam. Though my husband was never in Vietnam he has been denied any compensation from the military. I did start doing research about Agent Orange and did find out that many of the Bases he was stationed at either had Agent Orange stored at them or was contaminated with other chemicals and herbicides. That explains a lot. When we started having children I did not know that our children would be born with birth defects. We have four sons as I mentioned. Our oldest son was born with a hole in his heart, which thankfully closed up with our surgery. our second son was born with a learning disability, and webbed toes on both feet. The third son no real issues, our fourth son was born with three heart murmurs, bad ears that caused hearing loss. They all have coped with everything pretty well. My husband was married before me and had three children with his previous wife. His first son was born with a hole in his heart that took his life at eight days old. His first daughter was born premature, the second daughter was born healthy. So out of seven children and two wives, there seems to be an issue there.

Men who have been diagnosed with prostate cancer will not talk about it or let their loved ones talk about it. I got lucky that Ray doesn't mind me sharing my story. I knew I was not going to sit back and do nothing. So I started advocating for prostate cancer awareness and education. When I started advocating with ZERO The End Of Prostate Cancer in 2012, we attended our first Summit in Washington, D.C. On the last day of the Summit, we head to Capitol Hill and meet with our elected officials from our states. This was my first time being in D.C. We are all dropped off for our scheduled meetings for the day. We had our first meeting with Senator Sherrod Brown at 8;30am, but at 8:15am I took a Spill on Capitol Hill and broke my let. The Capitol police wanted to call for the medics to take me to the hospital. I said no. We have meetings and I am not going to miss them they are too important to me. So they called for a wheelchair and off we went. We were a little bit late to Senator Brown's Coffee meeting. I shared my story. Please keep the funding and research in the Fiscal Year Budget. We had five meetings that day and I attended all five with a broken leg. People saw me from the Summit and said I was dedicated to keeping going to the meetings. Our first year advocating the budget was 80 Million dollars. Last year the funding budget was 110 Million.  Sadly COVID-19 has canceled the Summit in Washington, D.C. for 2021. I do hope we are able to return to in-person Summits in the future. I miss the friends we have made at the Summit. We can still keep in touch through social media but it's not the same. 

Support For Caregivers

Many times I am asked to share my story as a wife/caregiver. 

 

Lipps Announces Legislation Raising Awareness for Prostate Cancer Signed into Law

November 5, 2020

P. Scott Lipps News

COLUMBUS – State Rep. Scott Lipps (R-Franklin) today announced Governor DeWine has recently signed into law legislation that will help increase awareness about prostate cancer and pre-emptive screenings for the disease.

The measure, part of Senate Bill 163, creates the “Zero” license plate to raise awareness and urge men to participate in prostate cancer preventative efforts. Zero is a national nonprofit with the mission to end prostate cancer by advancing research, improving the lives of men and families, and inspiring action.

Under the bill, motorists are allowed to voluntarily purchase a specialty license for Zero through the Ohio Registrar’s office. The cost of each specialized plate is $35, of which $25 goes directly to Zero.

“This license plate is a simple, yet effective way to inform Ohioans about prostate cancer and encourage screenings,” said Lipps. “I’m proud Ohio has taken a step forward to support organizations like Zero that work to provide male Ohioans with the tools and information needed to protect their health.”

According to Zero, one in nine American men will have prostate cancer during his lifetime. Prostate cancer is the leading cause of cancer death among American men and is the most commonly diagnosed.

Lipps originally introduced the legislation as House Bill 107. The bill was amended into S.B. 163 during House Transportation and Public Safety Committee to include other license plates for a variety of causes.

Governor DeWine signed the bill on October 22, 2020.