Congressional spouses share sunscreen and sun safety tips with United States Capitol Police

More than 500 United States Capitol Police (USCP) Officers spend much of their days outdoors, protecting congressional members and spouses, as well as visitors to the Capitol. Congressional Families® Program Executive Council member Martha Hill (married to Rep. French Hill, Ark.) learned that many of these officers don’t protect their skin from the sun during these shifts.

“I talked to several officers who were on duty one day this summer, and not-a-one of them was wearing sunscreen,” said Mrs. Hill. “I knew we—through the Congressional Families Program—could do something about this.”

So, she reached out to Lisa McGovern, executive director of the Program, to mobilize spouses to take action.

With a promise of 500 sunscreen products from the Personal Care Products Council and Sun Bum to distribute, the Program was able to come together to protect those who protect us every day.

On September 16, a bipartisan group of twelve congressional spouses gathered at the USCP Headquarters to distribute sunscreen, healthy snacks (purchased with a gracious donation from Giant Food) and postcards with tips for skin cancer prevention and early detection on Capitol Hill. After meeting with USCP Chief Michael G. Sullivan and other officers on duty, officers on bikes escorted the group of spouses to various USCP posts. As the spouses shared sunscreen and informational postcards with the officers, they were able to talk with them about the importance of skin cancer prevention and early detection—even on a cloudy day (which it happened to be)!

Watch a highlight video on Instagram. To learn more about skin cancer prevention and early detection, visit www.preventcancer.org/skin.