Fighting Cancer
716. Sal Lahoud
Sal Lahoud co-founded the ‘FCancer’ initiative after tragically losing his father to cancer.
The innovative microvolunteering project pairs up people looking to donate their professional skills with cancer charities in need of support. 170 cancer charities post adverts on the FCancer website, with volunteers responding by pledging the number of hours they can dedicate to the cause.
Sal, who set up the project along with five close friends who all had a family member affected by cancer, has created a fully-integrated technology platform to automatically match the best projects to the skills of the volunteer. There are almost 9500 volunteers signed up to the initiative with around 100 new volunteers joining each week. Recent examples of successful collaborations have included designers creating information posters and animators producing adverts.
In a personal letter to Sal, Prime Minister Theresa May said:
“Your innovative initiative makes it easy for people to volunteer their professional skills by letting them pledge the number of hours they are able to donate. As a result cancer charities are able to access valuable skills to improve their impact and thousands of volunteers are giving back in a more meaningful way. Your work is changing lives and is a wonderful tribute to your father’s memory.”
Sal said:
“I am honoured to accept this award on behalf of FCancer. Our mission from the start was to create a fun and efficient way for volunteers to get involved in the fight against cancer. Building the FCancer platform into an easy-to-use technology platform that connects skilled volunteers with charity projects needing their expertise has been an eye-opening and rewarding experience for all of us. We would like to thank the UK government and the PM for supporting our effort – these initiatives do wonders for morale and give us more visibility. Thank you for encouraging young people to pursue opportunities in non-profit sectors.”