Mary Katherine Johnson is a former small business owner from the suburbs of Rochester, New York. She voted for Donald Trump three times.
Lexie Mealing, who used to work in a doctor's office, is from Long Island. She's a democrat.
But women share a common bond. They are both breast cancer survivors.
And when the American Cancer Society's Cancer Action Network held its annual civic lobby day in Washington last month, Johnson and Mealing were among more than 500 volunteers pushing Congress to keep cancer research and support for cancer patients at the top of the national health agenda.
The day is something of a ritual for groups like Cancer Control.
Mary Katherine Johnson is a breast cancer survivor and former small business owner. She lives near Rochester, New York. (Charlotte Kesl for KFF Health News)
Lexi Mealing is a breast cancer survivor living on Long Island, New York. She used to work in a doctor's office. (Charlotte Kesl for KFF Health News)
This year, it comes as Democrats and Republicans in Washington are locked in a budget impasse that has led to a federal government shutdown. But these volunteers overcame their political differences and found common ground.
“Not a single person here discussed whether you were a Democrat or a Republican,” said Mealing, one of 27 volunteers on the New York delegation. “Cancer doesn't care.”
Each of the volunteer lobbyists has been affected in some way by a deadly disease that is expected to kill more than 600,000 people in the US this year.
Johnson said each of her mother's 10 siblings died of cancer, as did her friend, who died at age 57, leaving behind a wife and two young daughters.
Like many New York City volunteers, Johnson also said she is concerned about the state of politics today.
“I think we're probably more divided than we've ever been,” she said. “It scares me. I'm afraid for my grandchildren.”
Katie Martin, a cancer volunteer in suburban Buffalo, is also concerned. She and her daughter recently drove past political protesters shouting at each other on the street.
“My daughter is silent, and then she starts asking: “What is this?” And I don’t know how to explain it because it doesn’t even make sense to me,” she said. “It's very heartbreaking.”
Mealing said she can barely watch the news these days. “A lot of Americans are under a lot of stress. There's a lot going on.”
Americans are truly divided on many issues: immigration, guns, President Trump. But polling shows that helping people with cancer and other serious illnesses has broad bipartisan support.
IN one recent survey7 in 10 voters said it is very important for the federal government to fund medical research. These included most Democrats and Republicans.
“It's rare to see numbers like this in today's environment,” said Jarrett Lewis, a Republican pollster who conducted the survey among patient groups. “But almost everyone in this country knows someone who has had cancer.”
Likewise, recent KFF survey found that three-quarters of U.S. adults, including a majority of Republicans who support the Make America Great Again, or MAGA, movement want Congress to expand subsidies that help Americans buy health insurance through the Affordable Care Act's marketplaces.
These subsidies, which are critical for people with chronic diseases such as cancer, are among the main stumbling blocks in the current budget impasse in Congress.
As cancer volunteers gathered at a convention hotel in Washington, they focused on a common agenda: increasing funding for cancer research, maintaining insurance subsidies and expanding access to cancer screening.
“We may not agree politically. We may not even agree socially,” said Martin, a Buffalo-area volunteer. “But we can see beyond these differences because we are here for the same reason.”
American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network volunteers from all 50 states decorated nearly 10,000 white paper bags with messages of hope and remembrance for people with cancer. (Charlotte Kesl for KFF Health News)
After visiting lawmakers on Capitol Hill, hundreds of American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network volunteers gathered for a candlelight vigil at the Constitution Gardens along the National Mall in Washington. Each state erected a monument in memory of a volunteer who died of cancer. (Charlotte Kesl for KFF Health News)
State delegations practiced the speeches they intended to make to their members of Congress. They told personal stories that they shared. And they swapped tips on how to deal with reluctant employees and how to ask for a photo with a deputy.
On the morning of their lobby, they reconvened in the huge ballroom, dressed in matching blue polo shirts and armed with red information folders to leave at each office they visited.
They received a pep talk from a couple of college basketball coaches. They then headed through the city to Capitol Hill.
An army of volunteers from every state in the country attacked 484 of the 535 Senate and House of Representatives offices.
Not every visit was an unqualified victory. Many Republican lawmakers oppose extending insurance subsidies, arguing they are too expensive.
But lawmakers from both parties have backed increased research funding and support for expanding cancer screening.
And New Yorkers were pleased with this day. “It was amazing,” Mealing said as the day wore on. “You can just feel: “We are stronger together.”
As evening fell, volunteers met on the National Mall for a candlelight vigil. It was raining. The bagpipes started playing.
Around the pond near the Lincoln Memorial, about 10,000 tea lights flickered in small paper bags. Each luminary had a name on it—a life touched by cancer.
John Manna, another New Yorker, is a self-proclaimed Reagan Republican whose father died of lung cancer. He reflected on the lessons the day could teach a divided nation.
“Talk to people,” he said. “Get to know each other as people and then you can understand someone's position. We have little differences, but, you know, we don't attack each other. We talk and discuss it.”
Manna said he will return next year.
