The Cancer Journeys Foundation Celebrates Election Day Holiday

The Cancer Journeys Foundation, based in Manhattan Beach, California, is proud to announce that they have formally joined the Vote.org program, and all of the foundation’s employees will enjoy a paid vacation day on Election Day. The Vote.org program is dedicated to ensuring that no American citizen has to choose between their paycheck and their right to vote.

Cancer Journeys Foundation CEO Robert Hess says, "Voting is a fundamental right and civic duty, and I believe that every single citizen of America deserves the ability to exercise that right. As such, I fully support Vote.org's program encouraging companies to make election day a paid holiday and take pride in making the Cancer Journeys Foundation a part of that program. In fact, I would support making it a national holiday."

Hess says, “Data shows that more than a 100 million voting-eligible Americans did not vote in the 2016 election, and a large portion of them mentioned that the reason that they did not vote is that they had scheduling conflicts with either their work or their school that kept them from getting to the polls. This is an upsetting figure, not one that should be repeated, and it is every person’s civic duty to do all they can to make voting easier and more accessible. This is why I am so enthusiastic about the Cancer Journeys Foundation taking part in Vote.org’s program.” Hess encourages everyone to visit the Election Day website and submit their company to take part in the program: https://www.electionday.org/submitted.

Vote.org says that, in 2020, companies must support every employee's right to cast their ballot safely and successfully, whether it is on or before the election day. Companies agreeing to participate in Vote.org’s program commit to several vote-friendly policies. The first of such policies is to ensure that all employees have the education and information they need to vote, including information on how to register, voting methods and relevant deadlines. This policy is even more important in 2020 because many states are changing their voting rules and election dates in response to COVID-19.

Companies also need to make sure that they are providing paid time off to vote on and/or before election day — it should apply to employees voting on Election Day, employees who choose to vote early in-person and employees dropping off an absentee ballot. On their website, Vote.org explains that the time it takes to vote has always been unpredictable, and this year will be even more uncertain due to social distancing requirements at polling places, changes to polling locations and unfamiliarity with dropbox locations. The best policy here will not be time-bound but will take into account the unique challenges facing voters this election cycle. For companies that have offered hourly policies in previous election cycles, Vote.org recommends that the hours offered this year should be extended, and should apply to early voting periods as well as Election Day. Alternatively, they suggest that companies offer a certain number of ‘civic hours’ that may be used at any time to vote.

While the above two are the primary policies heavily recommended by Vote.org, there are also a number of additional practices companies can engage in to encourage their employees to vote, remove work-related barriers to the process and foster a celebratory culture of civic engagement. These practices include aiming for 100% employee registration, encouraging voting by mail, making Election Day a fully fledged holiday and going beyond a compliance mentality.

The Cancer Journeys Foundation was founded with the mission to provide the knowledge, support and community that cancer survivors need to develop and implement cancer survivorship plans and cancer survivor journey maps. Robert Hess, a 17-year-long cancer survivor himself, knows the emotional lows of a cancer diagnosis and the challenges in finding information and support in dealing with a cancer diagnosis. He believes that no one should have to face cancer alone, which is why he established the Cancer Journeys Foundation: to be there for cancer survivors.

Those who want to learn more about the Cancer Journeys Foundation and the work that they do may visit the foundation’s website at the following link: https://cancerjourneysfoundation.org. They encourage interested parties to get in touch with Robert Hess directly via email or phone. Alternatively, the Cancer Journeys Foundation can also be reached through the contact form on their website.