All across the country, impassioned cancer survivors, researchers, and advocates are gearing up and packing their bags to make their voices heard in Washington, DC at the Celebration on the Hill.

The 2-day event takes place September 19 and 20 and is sponsored by the American Cancer Society's sister advocacy organization, the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN). It will bring some 4,000 "Celebration Ambassadors" -- representing every congressional district in the country -- and thousands of other advocates to Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. Their mission: to tell lawmakers about the importance of adequate funding for cancer research and services, to remember those who have lost the battle with this disease, and to celebrate those who are fighting and surviving it.

The goal is to make cancer a national priority, organizers say. It's a goal the participants are intensely committed to reaching.

"This is not the time to back down," said Joyce Graves, a 2-time breast cancer survivor from New Mexico. She became a passionate fundraiser with Relay For Life after her first diagnosis, and became even more committed to the supporting research after her husband, Paul, was diagnosed with chronic myeloid leukemia. The targeted drug Gleevec has kept him in remission for more than 4 years. Both husband and wife are acting as Ambassadors at Celebration on the Hill.

"Paul is alive because of research," Joyce stressed. "[New discoveries] are coming fast and furious."