Mark your calendars and get ready for a spectacular event! On Friday, September 5th, Hollywood stars will join together to support Stand Up To Cancer Canada (SU2C Canada) in a one-hour fundraising telecast to be aired simultaneously on CBC, City, CTV, Global and other Canadian services. Live from the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, this is the first time there will be a Canada-inclusive co-broadcast of the special.
Celebrities including Gwyneth Paltrow, Reese Witherspoon, Pierce Brosnan, Jennifer Aniston, Halle Berry, Jon Hamm, Kiefer Sutherland, Ben Stiller, Will Ferrell, Mark Harmon and Rob Lowe will be there. Special performances by The Who, Jennifer Hudson, Common & Lupe Fiasco, Ariana Grande and Dave Matthews will make the night a must-see. More celebrities and performances will be announced in the coming weeks.
“Cancer affects us all,” said Paltrow, who lost her father, Bruce Paltrow, to oral cancer in 2002. “Each and every person can help the scientists who are working 24/7 to save more lives. We want to get that message out in as many ways as possible, so we’re excited to use social media to reach supporters from all over who are helping to grow the Stand Up To Cancer movement, and hopefully, get even more people to stand up with us.”
This star-studded appeal will help build public support for SU2C Canada, which will bring together scientists from different disciplines and across institutions to collaborate on finding new treatments for a wide range of cancer types. All funds received from the Canadian general public during the broadcast will be directed towards the creation of collaborative research teams, as well as education and awareness programs conducted in Canada.
And as you can guess, there excitement extends to social media. Instead of the traditional phone bank staffed by celebrities, this telecast will feature a “digital lounge” on the set, hosted by Yahoo News Global Anchor Katie Couric. Stars in the digital lounge will reach out to viewers via phone, Facebook, Instagram and other social media platforms through the “We’re Calling You” campaign. SU2C’s supporters can sign up for, as of today, at werecallingyou.org
The first three SU2C telecasts took place in 2008, 2010 and 2012 under the aegis of the U.S.-based SU2C program, which utilizes the industry’s resources to engage the public in supporting a new, collaborative model of cancer research, and to increase awareness about progress being made in the fight against the disease. To date, more than $260 million has been pledged to the U.S.-based SU2C program.
In the U.S., over a dozen television networks are donating one hour of simultaneous commercial-free primetime for the nationally televised fundraising special on Friday, September 5.
Leave a Reply