Photo: RONNIE JAMES DIO Cancer Fund Launches 'Check Yourself' Cancer Awareness Program At ORION

The Ronnie James Dio Stand Up And Shout Cancer Fund launched its new Check Yourself cancer awareness program this past weekend at the 2013 Orion Music + More festival at Belle Isle outside of Detroit, Michigan. The organization, founded in memory of the world-renowned voice of DIO, RAINBOW, BLACK SABBATH and HEAVEN & HELL, participated in the festival's "My World Village" designated area for promoting a healthy planet and healthy lifestyles. Wendy Dio, widow of the late singer and fund president/founder, along with the fund's co-founder/medical director Dr. Sandeep Kapoor, MD passed out sunscreen and Ronnie James Dio memorial wristbands from the Dio Cancer Fund booth in an effort to educate attendees about skin cancer awareness and prevention due to the damaging effects of the sun at this and other outdoor summer events.

Said Wendy: "I would like to thank METALLICA and their management, especially Mark Reiter and Kevin Noonan, for the opportunity they gave the Ronnie James Dio Stand Up And Shout Cancer Fund to take part in their 'My World Village' at their Orion Music + More festival. I would also like to thank all the wonderful fans that stopped by our booth and the town of Detroit for their hospitality. Everyone was so friendly and warm."

Skin cancer is the most common form of cancer in the United States — one in five Americans will develop a form of it — and summer events like the Orion festival result in long exposure to the damaging rays of the sun. Melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer, is the most common form of cancer for young adults 25-29 years old and the second most common form of cancer for adolescents and young adults 15-29 years old. In keeping with the Fund's mission of cancer prevention, research and education, the Check Yourself campaign encourages people to be aware of preventative measures available, self-detection and when to seek the advice of a physician.

Dr. Kapoor will conduct a special workshop on skin cancer prevention and self-detectionduring the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival in Manchester, Tennessee. It will take place on Sunday, June 16 at 11:30 a.m. at the T.J. Martell Foundation booth in the Planet Roo non-profit village where both organizations will distribute informational pamphlets from the American Dermatology Society.

The Ronnie James Dio Stand Up And Shout Cancer Fund is a privately funded 501C3 charity organization which has already raised more than $600,000 in its short history. Monies raised to date have been committed to the cancer research work of the T.J. Martell Foundation for cancer, aids and leukemia research and the gastric cancer research unit of the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, where Ronnie was treated for gastric cancer during the last six months of his life.