The American Cancer Society's big purple bus pulled into the parking lot of Robinson Secondary School in Fairfax last Wednesday as part of its nationwide tour.
The stop was one of 13 in Virginia to gain signatures for the "War on Cancer." In all, the bus will visit 40 states and more than 150 cities and towns collecting signatures before arriving on Capitol Hill in September as a way to lobby Congress on behalf of cancer-related issues.
At Robinson, students from area high schools signed the bus. In addition, Virginia Secretary of Health and Human Services Jane Woods spoke and also signed the bus.
According to the American Cancer Society, in Virginia there are an estimated 25,970 new cancer cases and 12,810 cancer-related deaths annually. This year, an estimated 1.3 million Americans will be diagnosed with cancer and 550,000 will die from the disease.