By now you've probably heard about CBS News anchor Katie Couric joining forces with the other network anchors for a cancer telethon. They're calling it " Stand Up 2 Cancer." It will simultaneously air on CBS, ABC and NBC on September 5, 2008.

The idea is to provide an umbrella fund raising organization and bring all cancer fighting groups together.

Competition is one of the main reasons Couric says she felt compelled to help start Stand Up 2 Cancer. Couric says when it comes to battling cancer, various competitive organizations, like the big three broadcast networks, need to work together for a common goal.

It's a gesture Couric says started

when she was talking with some of her friends involved in helping her colon cancer efforts.

"And I said, 'It seems to me we could do something to unite the country. That would really galvanize people to donate a dollar, five dollars, 10 dollars,'" said Couric.

For Couric cancer fund raising is an intimately personal goal.

"My husband Jay was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer in 1997, when he was 41-years-old and lost his battle nine months later," said Couric. She continued, "Believe it or not, a few years after that my sister, Emily . . . she lost her very valiant and courageous fight with pancreatic cancer about six years ago."

"My mother-in-law died of ovarian cancer shortly after Jay passed away. So cancer has really affected my family," said Couric.

After years of taking on colon cancer, Couric and the Stand Up 2 Cancer team are now taking on all the disease's 200 forms through massive fund raising.

"And I think everyone is really excited about the potential that's really within our grasps. We just need the money to fund the ideas and move the science forward," said Couric.

Finally, 37 years after

President Nixon declared a cancer war, many scientists now say they could be on the verge of discovering a cancer cure. But funding is their roadblock.

" . . .only one out of 10 promising research proposals is funded currently by the government. That's nine potentially breakthrough ideas, because there's no money to fund the research," said Couric.

"We have a huge challenge before us in cancer research," said Emily Nenon of the Alaska American Cancer Society.

Alaska American Cancer Society officials say this is increasingly due to the budget President Bush signed into law. In part, they say, it cuts cancer research funding.

"So it is in fact a cut to these programs. So you're seeing actual research programs

having to stop mid-progress," said Nenon.

Cancer Society officials say examples of research cuts, like cutting chemotherapy clinical trials, directly affect Alaskans.

"You're dealing with somebody in Bush Alaska that's having to fly somewhere else to get those treatments, being able to get them back home and back in their community, and have the support of their community faster, is going to make a huge, immediate impact on their life," said Nenon.

"I think that everyone in Alaska understands how critically important this is," said Couric.

It is critically important because, Couric says, all of Stand Up 2 Cancer's fundraising money will bypass bureaucracy and go directly to funding research.

"So I hope the people of Alaska will watch Stand Up 2 Cancer. Will go to the Web site, will support our efforts, will find in their hearts to give even a dollar. Will go to their schools and do even a Stand Up 2 Cancer drive. Together we can all make a difference in conquering this disease, hopefully in our lifetimes," said Couric.

The Stand Up 2 Cancer telethon airs September 5, 2008, but you can start donating right now.

To contact Matthew, call 907-273-3186.