Antonio Gutierrez is a lifelong Portage resident who plans to walk to Washington, D.C. for cancer research beginning August 17th. He grew up in a single parent household with his father along with his five brothers and sisters.
Gutierrez graduated in 1995 from Portage High School before going to school at Indiana University Northwest. Before he could graduate from IUN, Gutierrez took a break from college to learn a trade. He returned to school when he was in his 30s to earn a degree in Echocardiography.
Gutierrez began working for Arcelor Mittal Steel in 2008 until he was unfortunately laid off. Afterwards, he became a business owner and opened his own painting company. His company has grown over the years and has now become a full service property maintenance and management company called Hoosier Property Maintenance and Management.
Currently, Gutierrez is the Act Lead for the American Cancer Society’s Cancer Action Network. He said that, as the Act Lead, he works closely with lawmakers to encourage “them to support laws and policies that will make the fight against cancer a top, national priority.”
Gutierrez is also the event lead for the Portage Relay for Life, of which he has been involved in for 9 years. He now plans to take the fight against cancer in his own hands, all the way to Washington, D.C. Gutierrez said that his walk is in no way associated with the American Cancer Society’s Cancer Action Network.
“This is not [an] ACS CAN sanctioned walk,” Gutierrez said. “I am doing this walk for myself.”
Gutierrez’s walk will take him almost an entire month to complete. He plans to leave Portage on August 17th and will arrive in DC on September 10th. He said that this walk is to raise money for cancer research and “to bring attention to two very important bills [that he] has been working on.”
H.R. 3119 is the first of these two bills – it is for the patient quality of life. H.R. 1220, the second bill, is known as the Removing Barriers to Colorectal Screening Act. Gutierrez is hoping to raise support for the National Institute of Health and the National Cancer Institute for an increase of $6 billion and $1 billion, respectively, over the next two years.
During his walk, Gutierrez will be stopping in congressional districts. He wants to convince the representatives or Senators in those areas who have not signed on to either bill, to support them.
He will also be speaking to other people in the district to “inform them [that] they have a voice in this fight against cancer” and he will be asking them to reach out to their legislators in support of the bills.
Once in D.C., Gutierrez will be attending the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network’s federal lobby day and summit. He will be on Capitol Hill meeting with legislators to gain their support on the bills and asking for an increase in cancer research spending. Gutierrez will also be attending the Our Lights of Hope ceremony.
From his journey, Gutierrez hopes that people will find motivation to get involved in the fight against cancer because, he believes, that this is a fight we can win together.
“We are here on this planet for a short amount of time,” Gutierrez said. “While we are here, we have to make a difference.”