Nebraska Government Relations Team Receives National Award

(Washington, DC) – American Cancer Society Grassroots Manager Dustin Perchal and Legislative Government Relations Director David Holmquist were recently recognized as “Government Relations Team of the Year” at a ceremony in Washington DC.

On September 21, the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) bestowed the award on Perchal and Holmquist for their ability to produce outstanding results as a team.

“It was a tremendous surprise and the greatest honor,” said Perchal. “We feel blessed that, out of all the state legislative staff teams, we were selected to receive this award.”

“This is an award that represents a tremendous amount of hard work and collaboration,” said Kelly Headrick, chief of government relations for the High Plains Division of the American Cancer Society. “Dustin Perchal and David Holmquist rolled up their sleeves and fought for important cancer control initiatives in Nebraska.”

Last year, Perchal and Holmquist helped pass a comprehensive statewide smoke-free law in Nebraska, which they successfully defended against efforts to weaken this year. The law became effective this past June. Also this year, despite the bad economy, Perchal and Holmquist successfully staffed efforts to fund breast and cervical cancer screening, colon cancer screening, and tobacco prevention and cessation. In the past few months, the two have worked hard on health care reform and were key to the passage of a bill that authorized the Food and Drug Administration to regulate tobacco. Perchal and Holmquist have ensured that Nebraska’s advocacy volunteers are among the most active at the state and federal levels. Together, they have excelled at grassroots organization and at fundraising for the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network.

The American Cancer Society’s High Plains Division is comprised of staff and volunteers throughout Missouri, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, and Hawaii who are dedicated to saving lives and creating more birthdays by helping people stay well and get well, by finding cures, and by fighting back against cancer. For more information, visit http://www.cancer.org.

ACS CAN is the nonprofit, nonpartisan advocacy affiliate organization of the American Cancer Society, dedicated to eliminating cancer as a major health problem. ACS CAN works to encourage lawmakers, candidates and government officials to support laws and policies that will make cancer a top national priority. ACS CAN gives ordinary people extraordinary power to fight cancer. For more information, visit www.acscan.org.