Hodgkin’s Lymphoma is blood cancer that is linked with exposure to toxic chemicals. For Arjorie and her daughter Zion, a happy teenager excelling in school and looking forward to her next soccer match, the diagnosis of cancer was devastating. What was supposed to be a five-month treatment plan stretched to three years of hospitalizations. Then, shockingly, one of Zion’s best friends, Simon, was diagnosed with the same rare cancer. Both families were long-time residents of the Bethel neighborhood in West Eugene’s industrial corridor.

These two personal battles with childhood cancer spurred Arjorie to action. She wondered: "What if children were being harmed by toxic chemicals released by nearby industrial polluters? What if their homes, parks and schools had unhealthy levels of pollutants in the air and soil?"

Arjorie now organizes and attends community meetings, mentors neighbors concerned about the high levels of pollution, helps with air quality monitoring projects and gives testimony to local government. She is determined to do everything she can for clean air so that other children won’t experience cancer like Zion and Simon endured. We all celebrated this year when Zion was declared cancer-free!