On Capitol Hill Thursday, Congressman Zach Wamp (R-TN) joined seven American Cancer Society volunteers from Tennessee's Third District for "Celebration on the Hill," a grassroots event celebrating cancer survivorship.

Cancer is the second leading cause of death in the United States and its leading health concern. An estimated 1.2 million Americans will be newly diagnosed with cancer and 550,000 people will die this year.

Celebration on the Hill is a part of the American Cancer Society's signature activity, "Relay For Life." Relay is a unique 24-hour overnight activity that offers everyone in a community an opportunity to participate in the fight against cancer. Relay For Life participants organize teams to walk, run or otherwise move around a track to demonstrate their resolve to eliminate cancer as a major public health problem. A growing grassroots phenomenon, 3,300 Relay For Life events were being held in communities across the country this year with an estimated 2.5 million participants, including 500,000 cancer survivors.

 Volunteers from Tennessee's Third District were specially chosen to serve as "Relay Community Ambassadors," where they joined thousands of other Ambassadors from all 50 states and 435 Congressional districts. They gathered together with Representative Wamp on Capitol Hill and the National Mall to share stories about how their lives have been touched by cancer and how the federal government can help alleviate the nation's cancer burden.

 The following volunteers were from the Third Congressional District: Lynn Chesnutt of Cleveland, Kathy Cole of Rockwood, Judy Dierkhising of Ooltewah, Dale Henry of Spencer, Christie Kersey of Chattanooga, Judy Underwood of Wartburg and Kathy Yates of Spencer.