In less than four hours, Fashion For Life will be closing until next year. The vendors will be picked up and the sims will be dismantled and it will all go away, these beautiful builds such as this one that are all part of a monumental annual effort to raise funds in the hope of finding cures for cancer. Cancer is such a tricky bastard; it needs more than one cure. But the cures are possible; they can be found and it will take our concerted effort to find them.

I cannot personally do the research or operate the equipment or contribute vast funds to support the research. I cannot make beautiful gowns like this one from Aleida to generate financial support to the cause.  But there are things I can do – active steps to combat cancer that are in my power. On a personal level, I can assess my risk and work to reduce it. I can support my friends who struggle with cancer by not letting them disappear into the world of treatment, by visiting them and listening when they need an ear and talking when they need distraction.

On a social level, I can support businesses and industries that have good environmental practices and don’t use endocrine disrupters and growth hormones. I can support restaurants who cook with fresh ingredients, not processed ones. I can support a healthier food chain by buying local when possible and making processed foods less profitable by not buying them.

On a political level, I can demand better food oversight, more rigorous consumer protection and stronger environmental laws. I can vote for politicians and parties who support a greener economy and reduced reliance on non-renewable energy. We can demand changes in the laws that contribute to intentional shortages of cancer treatment drugs. There is no free market right to cause cancer and we need to demand that companies who knowingly use carcinogens be criminally prosecuted since fines seem to be just a “cost of doing business” and get passed on to consumers.  The avoidance of personal liability for corporate criminality has to stop.

So you see, even though Fashion For Life ends at midnight, our struggle does not end. Most of us cannot do the heroic work of cancer research and cancer treatment, but we can – each and every one of us – do our part in our daily lives to reduce the risk and support the efforts of those who do the heavy lifting. It’s time.