Cancer, such a sensitive topic, but one that needs to be talked about more along with adding more education about the different diseases.

A relatively new NDSU organization, Colleges Against Cancer (CAC), does multiple things to help those affected by the terrible diseases of cancer.

Jamie Froberg, the president of CAC, from Lindstrom, Minnesota, is a fourth-year graduate student in the physics department. He was able to discuss the main goals and ways of involvement with this NDSU organization.

There are two specific goals with CAC, one being volunteering and the other being spreading awareness. “The first goal is to volunteer time to helping cancer patients,” Froberg explained. “One example of volunteering we are working on this semester would be volunteering at Essentia (a health center) to just spend time and talk with patients who may be lonely or stressed out about their situation and just want someone with them. Our second main goal is to spread awareness of cancer prevention strategies such as wearing sunscreen or not smoking.”

Many organizations set goals, but the difficulty is achieving said goal. CAC works to “achieve our goals by staying focused on them as well as by keeping our eyes open for more volunteering opportunities,” Froberg said. He went on to say how they are constantly trying to “gain more members and raise awareness.”

The organization spreads awareness through tabling in the Memorial Union and explaining the different types of cancer to their members. They have not only spread awareness of cancer prevention and the different types, but also “a woman whose cousin is batting cancer,” Froberg shared.

Becoming president of an organization is a big step in something you truly care about. The reasons why Froberg joined were mainly because he works in a lab on campus that involves pancreatic cancer research. “I read many papers and statistics on cancer and how it affects people, and that made me decide to get more involved by helping people who have it,” Froberg said.

If you’re wondering why you should join or why people normally join, Froberg said, “Most people in our group seem to know someone who has had cancer, and seeing how it affected that person made them decide to get involved with us.”

Once people join this organization, they are given help through helping people. By helping others most get a good feeling about themselves. The organization also allows people to gain a whole new look on life. “CAC helps students by giving them the opportunity to give back to the community through volunteer work,” Froberg said. “Additionally, meeting people who work with cancer patients and cancer patients themselves can provide new perspectives and outlooks on life.”

As president, Froberg shared his favorite memory during his time apart of the organization, “One of my favorite things about being in this group is that whenever we have our displays up in the Memorial Union or Involvement Expo, people always seem really happy about what we are doing and are always really supportive of our cause, which really helps you see how much people care about each other.”

CAC is hosting the “Be the Match” event on Oct. 23, in the Memorial Union Badlands room, and Oct. 25, in the Memorial Union Hidatsa room, both from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. This event is a bone marrow registry event, not a donation event merely signing up saying you would like to donate if ever needed. “People who are willing to donate bone marrow to help people with diseases such as leukemia can sign up onto Be the Match’s list and fill out some information about themselves,” Froberg explained. “Then, if they are a match with a patient who needs bone marrow, they will be contacted to possibly donate their bone marrow to the patient who needs it, but not everyone who signs up will be contacted.”

“Giving bone marrow helps cure diseases such as leukemia and lymphoma,” Froberg shared.

CAC has meetings every other Wednesday night from 7 to 8 in the Memorial Union Hidatsa room. These meetings inform those attending of upcoming events and volunteer work.