“For every life lost to asbestos, a shattered family is left behind.” This is the motto and the message of the Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization (ADAO) co-founder Linda Reinstein. Linda, who now serves as ADAO’s executive director, became an activist on behalf of the victims of asbestos disease in 2003, when her husband Alan was diagnosed with mesothelioma. He passed away in May 2006.

The Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization, which Linda established in 2004 along with co-founder Doug Larkin,  is a non-profit organization dedicated to serving as the voice for all asbestos victims. Its mission includes education, outreach, networking for asbestos victims, and especially working to accomplish a complete ban of asbestos in the United States. ADAO has gotten a U.S. Senate resolution to officially declare April 1 as Asbestos Awareness Day, and hosts an annual Asbestos Awareness Day Conference to increase awareness and help prevent future exposure.

This year, the Acting Surgeon General Steven K. Galson supported National Asbestos Awareness Week, the first week of April, and issued a statement about the deadly health hazard posed by asbestos.

Since co-founding ADAO, Linda has globally united countless individuals and families who have been affected by asbestos related diseases, including mesothelioma and asbestosis. She also has worked to produce awareness materials including a slide show called “Asbestos Kills,” and other educational materials including an internationally distributed online book, “Reflections,” which features articles from renowned global experts.

Last week, the ADAO launched a new resource center page on its web site, and issued a call to action for those of us in the mesothelioma community to push for a complete ban on asbestos in the United States by contacting our Congressional representatives.

There is an easy way to do it – just visit www.banasbestos.us and click on the link that says “Write Your Congressman,” which is on the home page. This will take you to a form you can fill out, and it will automatically send the message to your Congressional delegates. Remember, YOU shoud be THEIR voice on Capitol Hill!

“I need them to feel our pain,” Reinstein said. “Asbestos victims – patients, families, caregivers -  are turning their anger to action, across the nation, working for the difference we can make, together.”

Pictured above, Linda Reinstein with her and Alan’s daughter Emily. The flag is in recognition of Alan’s military service to his country.

It’s not too early to begin making preparations for Mesothelioma Awareness Day, September 26. The Meso Foundation has a helpful toolkit on its web site, that will assist you in planning mesothelioma awareness events in your area. There are two main activities encouraged – a radio public service announcement (PSA) campaign, and a proclamation from your local government to declare Meso Awareness Day in your community.

Here at myMeso, we have had great support for both Mesothelioma Awareness Day and Asbestos Awareness Day (April 1) from the City of Montgomery in the past. This year, we are hoping to expand our efforts, and share this important message with even more folks throughout our community and across the state. I’ll keep you posted as our plans develop. If you’d like any help in your area, please let me know, and I’ll be glad to lend a hand, or certainly contact the good folks at the Meso Foundation.

In addition to Meso Awareness Day, there are a few other upcoming mesothelioma and asbestos awareness events – go ahead and mark your calendar!

• The Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization (ADAO) has announced its Sixth Annual International Asbestos Awareness Day (AAD) Conference will be held in Chicago, Ill., April 9-11, 2010. Registration starts January 1, 2010. The theme is “Science and Technology Proves Asbestos is a Carcinogen.” This great conference features tons of expert speakers, as well as a heartfelt Remembrance Brunch to honor those who lost their lives to asbestos disease. Visit the ADAO web site for more information, and make plans now to attend.
• The Mesothelioma Applied Research Foundation (Meso Foundation) announced the 2010 International Symposium on Malignant Mesothelioma will again be held in Washington, D.C., and the event will return to the Omni Shoreham Hotel, which was a wonderful host for the event this year. Dates are June 10-12, 2010.

I will provide more information about both of these events as details are announced, but it’s never too late to make your plans. These events provide a wonderful opportunity to learn more about the dangers of asbestos, and the progress being made in research and treatment of asbestos-related diseases like mesothelioma. They also are a wonderful way to network and make connections with other people who are fighting the battle to prevent and cure mesothelioma.

As Asbestos Awareness Week – April 1-7, 2009 – draws to a close, the Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization (ADAO) is encouraging the mesothelioma and asbestos awareness community to recognize the victims of asbesots disease around the world.

Tonight, on Tuesday, April 7, everyone is encouraged to join in a candle-lighting at 6 p.m. PST (8 p.m. CST). The event will signify Unity, Hope and Remembrance of those we love, and will be a time to honor those who have been lost to asbestos disease.

Many people are surprised to learn that asbestos is still not completed banned in the United States. It is allowable at contents of 1 percent or less, despite studies that show that there is no safe level of asbestos exposure. The only known cause of mesothelioma, a deadly cancer most often affecting the lining of the lungs, is exposure to asbestos.

Tonight, join us in remembering those who are struggling with mesothelioma and other asbestos disease, and those who have lost their fight. One of the greatest tragedies of asbestos disease is that it doesn’t have to happen. How many more have to suffer before this deadly substance is finally eradicated?

The folks who run this web site were excited to take part in a special event on Saturday, April 4, to raise awareness of mesothelioma, and share information about the dangers of asbestos exposure. The event was the “Bite the Tail Off Cancer” crawfish boil, and it was sponsored by the Junior Executive Board of the American Cancer Society here in Montgomery, Ala.

The timing of this event was perfect, as it coincided with Asbestos Awareness Week, which is April 1-7. The week has been recognized nationally by U.S. Senate Resolution, and also locally by Montgomery Mayor Todd Strange. Thank you, Mayor Strange, for supporting Asbestos Awareness in the Capital City! The Mayor signed a proclamation on April 1 in recognition of the special week.

At the crawfish boil event, which was held in Downtown Montgomery at Riverwalk Park, we were able to provide information about asbestos exposure and safety, as well as information about mesothelioma. I talked to two gentlemen who have been exposed to asbestos, both in their jobs. We also visited with a woman who recently lost her husband to lung cancer, as a result of smoking and also asbestos inhalation in his work.

Many people were surprised to learn that asbestos is still not completely banned in the United States. We provided a petition they can sign, which I will take to Washington, D.C., in June when I attend the Mesothelioma Applied Research Foundation’s International Mesothelioma Symposium. During that event, I will have the opportunity to meet with my Congressional delegates to lobby for an asbestos ban.

We’re adding an online petition to this site, too, which should be up in the next couple of days. I’ll let you know when it’s active, and I would love to have everyone sign!

The folks from this web site, www.myMeso.org, are excited that we will have a table this weekend at the American Cancer Society “Bite the Tail Off Cancer” Crawfish Boil event. The event is presented by the ACS Junior Executive Board and Riverfront Facilities, City of Montgomery. If you are going to be in Central Alabama on Saturday, please come by and see us!

The event is planned to be held at Riverwalk Amphitheater in Downtown Montgomery, Ala., on Saturday, April 4, from 2 p.m.-8 p.m. and will feature all the crawfish and sides you can eat, live music, and activities for children. Tickets are $20 in advance or $25 at the door, with proceeds benefitting the American Cancer Society. (Advance tickets can be purchased through etix.xom)

myMeso’s sponsor, Beasley Allen Law Firm, is also a sponsor for this event, along with Alfa, Alfa Dental, Morgan Keegan, Jackson Thornton, Dr. Kynard Adams, Price Trailer Sales, Southeast IV, ServisFirst Bank, Harmon Dennis & Bradshaw, Cumulus Broadcastin, Seay Seay & Litchfield, AKD Printing, and AAF-Montgomery.

It is particularly fitting for myMeso to present information about mesothelioma and asbestos awareness during this event, as April 1-7 has been declared Asbestos Awareness Week both in the City of Montgomery and nationally, by U.S. Senate Resolution.

In case of inclement weather, the event will be held at the historic Train Shed, which is located adjacent to the Riverfront and Riverwalk. Come see us, rain or shine!

Mayor Todd Strange today signed a proclamation declaring April 1-7 as Asbestos Awareness Week in Montgomery, Alabama. This proclamation supports National Asbestos Awareness Week, as established by Senate Resolution.

It is the purpose of Asbestos Awareness Week to raise public awareness about the prevalence of asbestos and asbestos-related diseases and the dangers of asbestos exposure. Asbestos can still be found in many products in the United States, which consumes nearly 7,000 metric tons of asbestos each year. Asbestos also is present in insulation produced prior to the 1950s and building products used well into the late 1970s, all of which can still be found in homes and public buildings.

Microscopic asbestos fibers can be inhaled, where they imbed themselves in the body and cause diseases including asbestosis, a chronic scarring of the lungs, and mesothelioma, a deadly cancer.

Asbestos Awareness Day, and later Asbestos Awareness Week, was established nationally by the Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization (ADAO), which was founded by asbestos victims and their families in 2004. ADAO works to give asbestos victims and concerned citizens a voice as they fight for a total and complete ban on asbestos in the United States.

Today, April 1, is Asbestos Awareness Day. On a national level, the Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization (ADAO) is working in Washington, D.C., and around the world, to increase awareness and secure a true ban of all asbestos in the United States. Currently, asbestos is allowable in products at 1% or less by weight.

ADAO secured a senate resolution declaring April 1 as Asbestos Awareness Day, and April 1-7 as Abestos Awareness Week. You can visit the ADAO online.

Today also is Asbestos Awareness Day in Montgomery, Alabama, as designated by mayoral proclamation, signed by Montgomery Mayor Bobby Bright. The local effort strives to bring the message of asbestos awareness and education to the community and to bring attention to the national effort to ban asbestos.

Asbestos exposure can lead to asbestos-related disease including asbestosis, lung cancer and malignant mesothelioma. Many symptoms of mesothelioma and other asbestos diseases do not appear for 20 or more years, making it difficult to diagnose early. For this reason, the cancer is often diagnosed in late stages, making it too often deadly.

In the U.S. current statistics show 2,000-3,000 people are diagnosed with malignant pleural mesothelioma each year, and 10,000 Americans or more die each year from all asbestos-related disease.

Montgomery Mayor Bobby Bright signed a proclamation today, declaring April 1 as Asbestos Awareness Day in Montgomery, Ala., in a ceremony at his office . This proclamation goes hand-in-hand with a senate resolution declaring April 1 National Asbestos Awareness Day, and April 1-7 Asbestos Awareness Week. Asbestos Awareness Day is a project of the Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization. (not affiliated with MyMeso)

It is hoped that the local proclamation will bring attention to national efforts to completely ban asbestos in the U.S. and raise awareness about the dangers that still exist.

In Montgomery, Asbestos Awareness Day strives to educate the public about the ongoing dangers of asbestos exposure, which can lead to asbestos-related disease such as asbestosis, lung cancer, and malignant mesothelioma.

Pictured is Wendi Lewis, Conversation Architect for Beasley Allen, receiving the proclamation from Mayor Bright.

As I’ve mentioned here in several other posts, April 1 is National Asbestos Awareness Day, and April 1-7 is National Asbestos Awareness Week. This event is sponsored by the Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization (ADAO). Please support them in this event. The link to their site is in my blogroll. Visit them to find out more and ask them what you can do to help.

Think about it. How can we get more attention on the needs of people suffering from asbestos related disease, on a larger scale? What would you like to see? How can we get a grassroots campaign up and running? I think it’s really going to take one person interested and concerned talking to another. Literally spreading the word.Let’s get busy and tell America that asbestos is not a thing of the past, that it is a very real danger today and for their future!

The 4th Annual Asbestos Awareness Day is set for Tuesday, April 1, 2008. The first week of April, April 1-7, also is Asbestos Awareness Week.

On October 6th, 2004, Senator Harry Reid introduced Senate Asbestos Awareness Day Resolution (S. Res. 448). This resolution, proposed by the Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization (ADAO), designates April 1st as National Asbestos Awareness Day. Then, in 2007, Senate Resolution 108 designated the first week of April as National Asbestos Awareness Week.

In conjunction with Asbestos Awareness Day, the ADAO is having a conference March 28-29, with a remembrance service on Sunday, March 30. These events will be held in Detroit, MI, with the main conference events on Saturday at the Karmanos Cancer Institute. I am planning to attend the conference and hope to put up a lot of posts about the events and speakers.

In addition to the main conference activities, Jordan Zevon, son of acclaimed singer-songwriter Warren Zevon, who passed away from Mesothelioma in 2003, will be at the conference for a meet-and-greet Friday night and will speak on Saturday. He is the National Spokesperson for ADAO. Also, ADAO will present a number of awards Saturday to honor the people who have made a difference in Asbestos Disease Awareness.

For more information, or to register to attend the conference (deadline is TOMORROW, Feb. 28!) visit ADAO online.