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Today I had the privilege of interviewing one of the largest organizations in America. They have made a huge impact on many lung patients across the globe. Let me introduce you to Harold P. Wimmer, CEO and President of Americas Lung Association.

 

ADEA: It is a pleasure to finally meet you Mr. Wimmer and thank you for coming.

 

WIMMER: Oh please, call me Harold. Thank you for having me.

 

ADEA: Ok Harold, tell me a little about how the American lung association started? How did this company grow to become so internationally known?

 

WIMMER: Well, let me tell you first that we were not always known as the “Lung association”. Back in 1907, the goal was to find a cure and help fight Tuberculosis disease, which was the leading death in the United States. We became known as “The National Association for the study and prevention of Tuberculosis”. Being a much smaller group at that time, they decided to raise some money to help a Tuberculosis sanitorium from being shut down, and began by selling small christmas designed stamps with a lung on them for just 1 cent. We ended up gaining 10 times more than our goal. This is when we introduced our well known “Christmas Seals” foundation where we donate all the money raised, to lung patients.

 

ADEA: What an amazing story! What other impacts has The American Lung Association made through this journey?

 

WIMMER:  More than I can name. Not only have our researchers discovered an effective new treatment for children with tuberculosis. We have funded over $10 million towards lung cancer research, we were the very first to tackle the smoking problem as the nation's most preventable health risk, found the cause and treatment in lung cancer tumour cells and cystic fibrosis. Not to brag but our members have made an incredible impact for over 500,000 Americans who suffer from lung disease every year.

 

ADEA: That is absolutely wonderful to hear Harold. Please, tell me more about your contribution to science.

 

WIMMER: Our researchers are the biggest part of the association. Everyday, we get closer to saving hundreds of lives. This year,  we are investing $6.6 million dollars in research for curing lung diseases such as asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, pulmonary fibrosis and lung cancer.

 

ADEA: That is quite a lot of work and dedication. May I ask how many members are involved in this association?

 

WIMMER: From what I remember, I would believe about 32,000 members.

 

ADEA: Wow, and from my knowledge you have many nationwide movements and even a National lung helpline?

 

WIMMER: We do. We answer any lung concerns through our helpline and have other foundations such as our marathon run for “Lung Force”.

 

ADEA: What do you see for The American Lung Association in the future? What is the mission?

 

WIMMER: All we have ever wanted is to see “a world free of lung disease”. After over 110 years of fighting for healthy air and lungs, we want to be able to defeat lung cancer and improve the quality of life for asthma patients and others.

 

ADEA: You said healthy air? What do you mean by that exactly?

 

WIMMER: Healthier air meaning, removing all toxic chemicals that lead to bad lungs. Smoking is a big issue in our society. The American Lung Association has already made it so that smoking on airline flights and public places is prohibited. We want to step it up by completely eliminating tobacco use and cutting down on smoking rates.

 

ADEA: It makes me very amazed seeing organizations like yours putting so much work into making the world a better place.

 

WIMMER: For us it’s not so much as working, but a lifestyle. We love what we do by helping patients everywhere. “For us, we can make lung disease a distant memory”.

 

ADEA: Looks like we are running out of time. It was great learning so much about The American Lung Association. Thank you for your time Harold.

 

WIMMER: Thank you for having me.

 

I chose to interview this organization because lung disease is a huge pandemic. I was very interested to learn the impact that this organization has made by how they have figured out ways to actually treat these deadly diseases. Their contribution to spending so much time on research and even being able to eliminate smoking from airline flights was interesting to learn as well. Overall, I had a great time interviewing The American Lung Association.

 

Sources:

 

LUNG Research. (n.d.). Retrieved March 19, 2018, from http://www.lung.org/our-initiatives/research/

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The History of Christmas Seals. (n.d.). Retrieved March 19, 2018, from http://www.christmasseals.org/history/

 

America's Mailing Industry - The American Lung Association. (n.d.). Retrieved March 19, 2018, from https://postalmuseum.si.edu/americasmailingindustry/American-Lung-Association.html