The Essex County Cancer Coalition (ECCC) is a county-wide coalition, mandated on July 1, 2004 and supported by the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services, devoted to cancer-related issues county-wide.

The Advocacy Committee coordinates efforts to establish a visible presence and provide a strong voice to inform policy decision makers about needs and best practices related to cancer care, prevention and awareness — primarily at the county and municipal levels — by:

• Building advocacy capacity by cooperating with other relevant organizations involved in public policy issues, including the advocacy arm of the American Cancer Society — the ACS Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) — and the state-level Advocacy Ad Hoc Standing Committee of the Task Force on Cancer Prevention, Early Detection and Treatment in New Jersey;
• Working with the ECCC Leadership Council and staff — keep the leadership and membership informed of key events and important deadlines;
• Assessing needs and available resources; as necessary and in coordination with other advocacy efforts, provide factual data to local representatives and state and federal legislators to inform them about essential facts related to county activities.

Approved by the ECCC Leadership Council, March 4, 2011, and by the ECCC membership at the March 10, 2011 quarterly meeting.

As of Spring 2011, the Committee’s chair is Ms. June B. Reece.  Drs. Arnold H. Rosenheck and Michael Festa are Vice-Chairs.  Sr. Maggie Lopez is a Member-at-Large.

Any ECCC member is welcome to join.  Administrative assistance to this committee is provided by ECCC staff.  Contact Mr. David Landry, ECCC Co-coordinator at (973) 972-4623, landrydj@umdnj.edu , or Ms. June Reece, ACS Community Mission Manager - ACS CAN Staff Partner at (973) 232-2561, June.Reece@cancer.org for details.

The Director and founder of the ECCC is Professor Stanley H. Weiss, MD.