COLUMBUS, Ga., Sept. 8, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- In honor of
Childhood Cancer Awareness Month in September, Aflac, the leader in
voluntary insurance sales at the worksite in the U.S. and longtime
champion of the childhood cancer cause, today announced the launch
of the Aflac Childhood Cancer Campaign. The program aims to provide
innovative care and support for the nearly 16,000 children newly
diagnosed with cancer each year in America.1
"With a 22-year history of raising funds and awareness for the
cause, we know that childhood cancer is too pressing to ignore and
too big for any one organization to address alone," Aflac
Foundation President Kathelen Amos
said. "We applaud Aflac's independent sales agents, who each month
give more than $500,000 from their
commission checks, and we urge others to join the movement."
The new campaign is designed to engage Aflac employees, agents
and the public to increase awareness, promote volunteerism and
honor childhood cancer champions through initiatives that
include:
- Social media: Aflac donates $2, up to $1.5
million, to The Aflac Foundation each time an individual
creates, shares or interacts with a social media post using the
hashtag #Duckprints.* Aflac's new "Selfless Selfies" campaign
encourages those providing support and love to children with cancer
to post their photos on social media using #Duckprints.
- Awards: Duckprints awards are presented to committed
people across the country who leave big footprints in the lives of
children and families facing cancer. Since its launch in 2013, the
Duckprints initiative has honored more than 40 childhood cancer
champions across the country.
- Website and merchandise: A new website,
AflacCancerCampaign.org, features merchandise for purchase, with
net proceeds benefiting The Aflac Foundation. Updated items include
a new plush duck as well as T-shirts, travel and sippy cups, and
more.
- Sponsorship: Aflac supports national events such as a
conversation on cancer in collaboration with Atlantic Media and
partnership with CureFest, a grassroots organization that aims to
make childhood cancer research a national priority by hosting a
rally in Washington, D.C., with
the goal of unifying organizations that work in the childhood
cancer space, increasing public awareness and building a
legislative agenda to increase federal funding for childhood
cancers.
About 4 percent of all federal funding for cancer research goes
toward pediatric cancer,2 even though research into
adult cancers is rarely relevant to children. To help address this
gap, Aflac has contributed more than $118
million to the childhood cancer cause since 1995. The
company also sponsors the Aflac Cancer and Blood Disorders Center
in Atlanta, helping make it one of
the top children's cancer programs in the nation, according to the
U.S. News and World Report.
"As a pioneer in cancer insurance, Aflac sees the terrible
impact of the disease every day as we support our policyholders.
So, it makes sense that the company's corporate citizenship
commitment not only funds treatment, but social and emotional
support for childhood cancer patients," Amos added. "With the Aflac
Childhood Cancer Campaign, we strive to foster the long-term hope
that comes from research while giving child cancer patients
immediate comfort today, along with some of the simple joys of
childhood."
To learn more, visit AflacChildhoodCancer.org.
*Related social actions
include:
Twitter - $2 for any tweet using the hashtag #Duckprints or
for retweets of Duckprints-related tweets.
Facebook - $2 for
any share of posts related to Duckprints or using the hashtag
#Duckprints.
YouTube - $2 per view of
the Duckprints videos on YouTube.
Instagram
- $2 for every post using the
hashtag #Duckprints.
About Aflac
When a policyholder gets sick or hurt,
Aflac pays cash benefits fast. For more than six decades, Aflac
insurance policies have given policyholders the opportunity to
focus on recovery, not financial stress. In the United States, Aflac is the leader in
voluntary insurance sales at the worksite. Through its trailblazing
One Day PaySM initiative, Aflac U.S. can receive,
process, approve and disburse payment for eligible claims in one
business day. In Japan, Aflac is
the leading provider of medical and cancer insurance, and insures 1
in 4 households. Aflac insurance products help provide protection
to more than 50 million people worldwide. For 11 consecutive years,
Aflac has been recognized by Ethisphere as one of the World's Most
Ethical Companies. In 2017, Fortune magazine recognized Aflac as
one of the 100 Best Companies to Work For in America for the 19th
consecutive year and included Aflac on its list of Most Admired
Companies for the 16th time. In 2015, Aflac's contact centers were
recognized by J.D. Power by providing "An Outstanding Customer
Service Experience" for the Live Phone Channel. Aflac Incorporated
is a Fortune 500 company listed on the New York Stock Exchange
under the symbol AFL. To find out more about Aflac and One Day
PaySM, visit aflac.com or espanol.aflac.com.
Aflac herein means American Family Life Assurance Company of
Columbus and American Family Life
Assurance Company of New York.
Aflac media contact – Jon
Sullivan, 706.763.4813 or jsullivan@aflac.com
Aflac analyst and investor contact – David A. Young, 706.596.3264 or 800.235.2667,
FAX 706.324.6330, or dyoung@aflac.com
1 National Cancer Institute
2 National Cancer Institute, 2014
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SOURCE Aflac