When Westchester mom Marisa Peters first shared her story of surviving Stage IIIb rectal cancer with the Hometown News in 2024, her message was simple but urgent: listen to your body and get screened. Today, that message has evolved into a growing movement and a clear call to action for the entire community.
According to the American Cancer Society, colorectal cancer is the third most common cancer diagnosed in both men and women in the United States (excluding skin cancers) and is on the rise for people in their 20s, 30s and 40s. The good news, however, is that through Marisa’s nonprofit BE SEEN, which she co-founded with her husband Josh, she’s not only raising awareness, she’s building real, tangible pathways for people to get screened earlier, faster, and with support.
And the results are already saving lives.
“Since we last spoke two years ago BE SEEN has helped 58 people be seen, and not only get polyps taken out, but have had precancerous ones removed. That’s what we consider a life-saving intervention,” says Marisa, who was diagnosed at just 39 after years of her symptoms being dismissed by doctors.
For Marisa, now four-and-a-half-years out from diagnosis with no evidence of disease, this is just the beginning.
“I’m an impatient person. I want to add some zeros to the end of that 58,” she says with a smile.
A Growing Crisis, Especially for Younger People
Part of what’s driving Marisa’s urgency is the alarming rise in colorectal cancer among younger adults.
“Rectal cancer in particular has gone far ahead of even the predictions in terms of the speed in which it’s taking people’s lives,” she says.
According to recent data, colorectal cancer is now the leading cause of cancer-related death for people under 50, a rate increase of 2.9 percent per year from 2013 to 2022. Even more concerning, many of those cases are being caught too late. The disease made headlines again recently after beloved actor James Van Der Beek, just 48, passed away after a two-and-a-half-year battle.
“Three out of four have delays in their diagnosis, which are resulting in later stage diagnosis and that’s exactly what happened to me,” she says.
Her message is clear: early detection isn’t just helpful, it’s lifesaving.
What You Can Do Right Now
For those wondering how to take action, Marisa and BE SEEN have created three simple entry points: Take the “Poop Pledge,” join a “Poop Party,” and participate in the “Move Challenge.” Each is designed to remove barriers, whether emotional, logistical, or informational and help people follow through.
1. Take the “Poop Pledge”
The first step is making your own health a priority.
“We want people to commit and pledge to be seen,” Marisa says.
Once you sign up on the BE SEEN website, you receive what she calls a “Poop Planner,” a digital guide that walks you through exactly what to do next to take action.
“It’s like a health map,” she explains. “It guides people through the kinds of conversations to have to truly follow through on that pledge.”
The goal is to help people recognize symptoms, understand their family health history and follow through with actual screening. Marisa emphasizes that screening doesn’t just detect cancer, it can prevent it. She likens precancerous polyps to seeds growing in a garden.
“If we pull the seeds out of the ground, nothing’s going to grow,” she says.
2. Join a “Poop Party”
Yes, it’s exactly what it sounds like, and it’s one of BE SEEN’s most innovative–and surprisingly popular–initiatives.
Last fall, Marisa hosted the first-ever “Poop Party,” where 11 participants supported each other by completing their colonoscopy prep together, then went in for screenings the next day. She even rented luxury toilet trailers so each person could have their own private loo.
“The toilets were private, soundproof, smell-proof. Just your own stalls with air conditioning. We had stars with the name of the person on each door, they had a personalized air freshener, reading materials–everything to meet their needs. Their families are probably incredibly grateful that they did their prep with us,” she says with a laugh.
A party bus then took everyone to get their colonoscopy together at UCLA Health the morning after the prep and then to eat their first meal after. What started as a one-time event to demystify the process quickly became something bigger.
“People had so much fun that it’s now become one of our most popular programs,” Marisa says.
And the results were eye-opening: more than 70 percent of participants had polyps detected and more than 40 percent had precancerous polyps removed.
In other words, lives were likely saved.
Now, BE SEEN is expanding the concept nationally with a virtual Poop Party with prep starting April 19 and colonoscopies the next morning on April 20, allowing people across the country to participate from their own home. Participants prep together online, complete activities (including art, trivia, and a film screening), and then undergo their colonoscopies the next day, with scheduling handled for them through BE SEEN’s Beeline partnership.
“If they’re ready to be seen, in less than a minute, they can go to our website and a human patient navigator guides them all the way through,” she says.
If Poop Party participation exceeds 50 people, the group will even attempt a Guinness World Record for the largest simultaneous “cheers” with cups of prep solution.
3. Join the “MOVE Challenge”
The third initiative focuses on prevention through daily habits. Inspired by a major clinical study released at the American Society of Clinical Oncologists, BE SEEN launched the MOVE Challenge, encouraging people to walk one mile a day throughout April.
The science behind it is compelling. The findings, published March 26, 2025, in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, found that 30 minutes of daily movement was as effective as chemotherapy in preventing cancer recurrence in colorectal cancer patients.
“As effective as chemotherapy!” Marisa says. “It’s tremendous.”
The Move Challenge invites participants to: walk one mile a day through April 30, build consistent, healthy habits and raise awareness and funds to prevent cancer.
“It’s not a one-day event,” she says. “We’re building healthy habits and doing it as a community.”
Top participants can even earn tickets to BE SEEN’s upcoming Alive Awards & Musical Celebration in Los Angeles on June 6, 2026.
Removing Barriers to Screening
Beyond awareness, one of BE SEEN’s biggest innovations is making screening easier to access.
Through a partnership with Beeline, users who visit the site can get matched with providers, have appointments scheduled, and receive support from a patient navigator.
All within minutes.
Because as Marisa notes, even when people get referrals, they often don’t follow through.
“It tends to fall to the bottom of the to-do list,” she says. “BE SEEN is driven to close that gap.”
A New Normal and a Clear Purpose
While Marisa is now healthy, she says life after cancer is not about going back to the way it was before.
“It’s a new version of normal,” says Marisa who was recently on the Kelly Clarkson Show promoting her Parent Your Parent Program and the virtual “Poop Party.”
That reality is part of what fuels her mission.
“We have the tools available to us today to do away with this disease, we just have to apply what we have,” she says.
The work has become deeply personal for her.
“I really feel like this is my life purpose,” she says. “If we can do this, we’re actually giving people more time. We can’t buy more time, but we can give it.”
By Shanee Edwards. Photos by Sophie Saunders