CHESTERTON | Light the Night National Friends and Family, Friends of Heroes, hopes to claim a huge prize at the end of 2007 - the chance to place the group's name on a pediatric cancer research grant.
The team, which is raising money for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, must raise $100,000 to receive the grant-naming opportunity, but it does not plan to stop there. The national goal for this year's team is $160,000, which would bring its total for four Light The Night Walk seasons to more than $1 million, according to a news release.
This event - set for Aug. 25 at Coffee Creek Watershed Preserve - will help this team reach its goal. The 5K begins at 8 a.m., with the Family Fun Walk beginning at 9 a.m. Gymboree will conduct organized activity time after the walk and Music Men will entertain.
Many prizes will be on hand including hotel stays, RailCats tickets and massages. To register, visit www.5krun.friendsofheroes.org or e-mail Beth at beth@friendsofheroes.org.
The team has raised more than $844,000 in the past three years to support the society's mission to cure leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin's disease and myeloma, and improve the quality of life of patients and their families.
The Crown Point Light the Night team is thrilled to be able to make a difference in the lives of pediatric cancer patients and their families. This local team has raised more than $10,000 in four years for the society.
Friends of Heroes has been successful enough for the past two years that it has been able to have a grant in its name. For the third year in a row, the team has selected Joseph Wiemels, University of California, San Francisco, as the grantee for his outstanding research in childhood leukemia.
Light The Night Walk is the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's nationwide annual evening fundraising walk, held each fall to celebrate and commemorate people whose lives have been touched by cancer. Proceeds advance the society's efforts to find cures for leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin's disease, and myeloma, and to provide education and services for patients with these diseases and their families. Participants walk a short distance, carrying lighted balloons: white for survivors, red for supporters and gold to commemorate lives lost to cancer. Dedication banners provide an opportunity to display a name or message, honoring or commemorating a family member or friend with cancer.
In 2006, thousands of people in about 250 communities participated in a Light The Night Walk event, raising nearly $33 million for research and patient services. For more information, visit: www.lightthenight.org.
- The Times
ABOUT THE SOCIETY
The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, headquartered in White Plains, N.Y., has 68 chapters in the United States and Canada. It's the world's largest voluntary health organization dedicated to funding blood cancer research and providing education and patient services. To learn more, visit www.LLS.org or call (800) 955-4572 weekdays.
