Contact: ALAMOGORDO DAILY NEWS

Alamogordo, Dec 12, 2003 - U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce left Roswell following former Rep. Joe Skeen’s funeral to drive to Alamogordo yesterday and attend a dedication at the CAPPED (Cancer Awareness Prevalence Prevention and Early Detection) building at 907 New York Ave.
After the dedication for the CAPPED Wall of Honor, Pearce and his entourage turned around and drove right back to Roswell because he had a radio interview to do first thing in the morning.
“Why would I do such a thing?” Pearce said when he was introduced at the event. It is because the people, the volunteers, who work so hard to share information with organizations such as CAPPED, are the key to making government work, he said.
“Volunteers are doing the things government cannot do,” Pearce said. “The research is the most important thing we (government) can do. But you all have to do the rest, the awareness.”
The Wall of Honor in the CAPPED building is painted by artist Heather Wilder, a senior at Alamogordo High School. The Wall features name plates in two colors, silver and gold. The gold plates hold the names of those who have worked so hard to help make the CAPPED dream a reality since its inception in 2000, said organization director Tresa Van Winkle.
The silver plates on the wall hold the names of those who are gone, in memorium, she said.
“We’re beginning to rethink medicine,” Pearce said, illustrating a need for society to turn to preventative solutions by talking about diabetes.
“In the past we would not give (pay for) the insulin,” Pearce said, “but we would pay for a lifetime of disability when the diabetes caused blindness (because of a lack of insulin).”
Pearce said the population of working people is getting smaller and people are living longer. “There are five people working to each retiree,” Pearce said. But as the baby boomers go into retirement the number goes to one person working for each retired person.
“We must catch diseases before they get to a catastrophic point,” Pearce said.
He talked about the strength of the individual volunteer to make a difference.
“This is us, each one individually saying we can do it,” Pearce said. “It takes one person with vision and that’s what causes the world to get better. That’s why I’m here. I wanted to see the wall.”
When Wilder, the artist, was introduced at the event she said it was a complete joy to paint the wall.
“This was my goodbye to my grandmother,” Wilder said.
She was surprised by the magnitude of the dedication event.
“It was a surprise on top of an honor,” Wilder said. “I was glad so many wonderful people could come.”
After the dedication, as event guests milled and enjoyed the refreshments, Pearce looked over items available at silent auction. He chose to bid on a ceramic sculpture entitled “Cancer,” created by local artist Richard Mausolf.
Pearce said he has many such “visual reminders,” of events he attends. As he enters his office each day and leaves it each evening they remind him of the events and the importance of the issues each day.