In 1936, a field representative of the American Cancer Society (known then as the American Society for the Control of Cancer) had the idea to create an legion of volunteers across the country with the single mission of waging war on cancer.
This group came to be known as the “Women’s Field Army” against cancer. It was adopted as a state project in Indiana by the Indiana State Medical Association Auxiliary, and Norma Inlow of the Shelby County branch of the Medical Association Auxiliary founded the Shelby County Branch of the “Women’s Field Army Against Cancer”.
In 1945, the Women’s Field Army and the American Society for the Control of Cancer reorganized into a single entity known as the American Cancer Society.
Research and Public Awareness of the disease became the primary focus of the American Cancer Society, and many of the medical breakthroughs that have happened in the field of cancer research have been a direct result of funding received from the Society.
In December of 1959, three men and two women who were doing volunteer fundraising for the American Cancer Society started to notice that the cancer patients in our community had basic needs that were often going unmet.
This amazing group of people formed the Cancer Association of Shelby County as a response to those unmet needs. We are able to offer direct services to cancer patients in our community, which can help alleviate their stress and allow them to focus on their treatment and recovery.
