Our Lady of Lourdes School was awarded a Shade Structure Grant from the American Academy of Dermatology, which enabled a permanent shade structure to be built over the playground to protect our students and teachers each day from the sun’s harmful ultraviolet rays.
Since its launch in 2000, the AAD’s Shade Structure Grant Program has awarded funding for more than 400 shade structures, which provide shade for more than 3 million individuals each day. Dr. Georgia Seely of Dermatology Associates of Virginia, a member of the AAD, sponsored Lourdes’s grant application, saying “Having a permanent shade structure will allow (Lourdes) to further their skin cancer awareness program as well as provide protection to the students and staff as they spend time outdoors.”
According to the AAD, skin cancer is the most common cancer in the United States, and it only takes one blistering sunburn during childhood or adolescence to nearly double a person’s chance of developing melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer, later in life. Seeking shade is an easy way to reduce the risk of skin cancer, along with covering up and wearing a broad-spectrum, water-resistant sunscreen with an SPF of 30 or higher.
The Shade Structure Grant Program is part of the AAD’s SPOT Skin Cancer™ campaign to reduce the incidence of skin cancer by educating the public about effective skin cancer prevention tips. To learn more about the Shade Structure Grant Program or for ways to prevent and detect skin cancer, visit SpotSkinCancer.org .
