Local event brings awareness to adolescent and young adult cancer

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — April is adolescent and young adult cancer awareness month. To honor the 90,000 young people diagnosed with the disease each year, landmarks around the region will be lit up green and blue.

The event was organized through a partnership with local non-profit 13thirty Cancer Connect. That organization provides wellness, expressive arts, and social programs for teens and young adults living with cancer.

“There’s never a good time to have cancer, but when you’re a teen or a young adult the challenges are uniquely difficult,” said Lauren Spiker, founder & executive director of 13thirty Cancer Connect. “It’s a time of many developmental transitions, a time of emerging independence and self-identity. A time to find one’s place in the world.”

13thirty Cancer Connect was started in 2001 by Spiker after the death of her 19-year-old daughter.