National Light The Night Team Friends of Heroes officially surpassed the million dollar mark in fundraising dollars!

With the dedicated support of our donors, walkers, team captains and affiliate teams, Friends of Heroes is well on its way to making a difference in the lives of blood cancer patients.

For every dollar donated, 75 cents is directed towards cutting edge cancer research and patient services that many patients depend on during and after treatment. That amounts to over $750,000 from our team!!!

To celebrate our first million dollars raised, Team Friends of Heroes is hosting a fun drawing. To enter, leave a comment on this post with an answer to the question:

What would you do with a million dollars??!!

Please include a valid email address with your comment so we can contact you! One lucky comment will win a Light The Night gift package. Comments will close on October 30, 2008.

CONGRATULATIONS Friends of Heroes for reaching this major milestone in only 4 years!!! Keep up the incredible work!!!!

“Blogging for Blood Cancer” Event Brings Bloggers Together for a Cure

(Princeton, NJ)  The first annual “Blogging for Blood Cancer” event will take place from August 11-18, 2008.  This first time event will bring bloggers from across the United States together to raise awareness for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society and its mission to cure leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin’s disease and myeloma, and improve the quality of life of patients and their families.  

The event is being hosted by Goodies for Mom (http://www.goodiesformom.com) in conjunction with the Friends of Heroes National Light The Night Team (http://www.friendsofheroes.org).  Bloggers will be posting on their blogs throughout the event about the importance of the LLS mission and share personal stories of those they have come to know who have been affected by blood cancer.  All bloggers participating will be entered to win prizes donated by event sponsors.  Visitors to the Goodies for Mom and Friends of Heroes blogs will also have opportunities to win as they learn more about the importance of LLS’s  research and patient services in the fight against blood cancer.

Thank you to the “Blogging for Blood Cancer” Event Sponsors: (A list of sponsors/donors to be included here)

·         Blue Top Hat

·         Goodies for Mom

·         Sara Rose Tutus

·         Susan Murphy, Inc.

About Goodies for Mom

Goodies for Mom is a blog designed to highlight new innovative products, contests, news, and articles that are of interest to moms. Both new and experienced mothers will find something of interest.  For more information, visit http://www.goodiesformom.com/.

About Friends of Heroes (FOH)
Friends of Heroes (FOH), formerly Friends of Allie, is the first and largest national Friends and Family Team for Light The Night Walk to benefit The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. FOH  has enlarged its scope to include affiliate teams—both corporate and Friends and Family teams—who share their passion for finding a cure for pediatric blood cancers and making a difference in the lives of families stricken by pediatric blood cancer. Their tagline is “Putting a Face on Childhood Cancer.”  Since August 2004, FOH has raised over $960,000 in support of LLS’s mission.  The team’s overall goal for 2008 is to bring its team grand total to one million dollars raised in just over 4 years. For more information, please visit:  www.friendsofheroes.org 

About The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society
The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, headquartered in White Plains, NY, with 68 chapters in the United States and Canada, is the world’s largest voluntary health organization dedicated to funding blood cancer research and providing education and patient services. The Society’s mission: Cure leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin’s disease and myeloma, and improve the quality of life of patients and their families. Since its founding in 1949, the Society has invested more than $600 million in research specifically targeting leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma. Last year alone, the Society made 5.1 million contacts with patients, caregivers and healthcare professionals.

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. Light The Night is open to all—it does not require a particular level of fitness. In 2007, thousands of people in approximately 230 communities in the United States and Canada participated in a Light The Night Walk event, raising nearly $39 million for research and patient services.

For more information about blood cancer, visit www.LLS.org or call the LLS Information Resource Center (IRC), a call center staffed by master’s level social workers, nurses and health educators who provide information, support and resources to patients and their families and caregivers. IRC information specialists are available at (800) 955-4572, Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. ET.

Contact:
Lois Whittaker
National Team Co-Captain
609-844-1061
lois@friendsofheroes.org

Who ever knew so much information crammed into just a few paragraphs would be so helpful? Well, I did not realize that until I had to get an event published. Don’t let the words press release scare you. They are really one of the most helpful tools that you can have when it comes to planning an event.

Thanks to Lois, we have a wonderful press release section available to us at http://www.friendsofheroes.org/pressroom.shtml for any one to use. If you are planning a yard sale, awareness day event, or a 5K run, a press release may be the key to success.

The first year I planned an event called “Mother and Kiddo Playtime Ball” and thanks to a well worded press release, I was able to get front page of the events section of our local news paper. Since then, I have used them for every little event that I have done for LLS and every time I have had something published. Even if it is in the calendar section.

Another thing to do with a press release is go to the “Volunteer” section of craigslist.org and post “press release for Light the Night” on the topic. A lot of media will find it there as well.

So please send those press releases….you can never over send them. To find media contacts, it is a google search for media contacts in town. They almost always have e-mail address that they want you to e-mail your press releases to. Then call the next day to follow up.

It is that easy! And to be honest, it is fun seeing the Friends of Heroes name in print! Once you send off your press release, be sure post about it on the friends of heroes forum and let us know how easy it truly was!

By Beck M.

For more information, visit http://www.friendsofheroes.org or contact teamleaders@friendsofheroes.org

For Immediate Release

Contacts: Lois Whittaker, Marketing Director, marketing@friendsofheroes.org

TEAM ‘FRIENDS OF HEROES’ ANNOUNCE OPPORTUNITY TO NAME PEDIATRIC RESEARCH GRANT BESTOWED BY THE LEUKEMIA & LYMPHOMA SOCIETY

White Plains, NY – Light the Night® National Friends and Family, Friends of Heroes (FOH), 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 funds for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, must raise $100,000 to receive the Society’s grant-naming opportunity, but it does not plan to stop there. The national goal for this year’s team is $160,000, an amount that would bring its total for four Light The Night Walk seasons to more than $1 million!

FOH has raised over $844,000 during the past three years to support the Society’s mission: Cure leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin’s disease and myeloma, and improve the quality of life of patients and their families. The is thrilled to have an opportunity to make a difference in the lives of pediatric cancer patients and their families. The 2007 Light The Night Walk will be held throughout North America. For a list of locations, visit www.lightthenight.org/friendsofheroes.

FOH has been successful enough for the past two years, that the Society has bestowed upon it the prestigious honor of having a grant in its name. For the third year in a row, FOH has selected Joseph Wiemels, Ph.D., University of California, San Francisco, as the grantee to have its name associated with for his outstanding research in the area of childhood leukemia.

“We are trying to answer the question: what causes childhood leukemia?” declares Dr. Wiemels. Dr. Wiemels grant is made under the Society’s Career Development Program (CDP), which funds talented researchers at different points in their developing careers.

Deborah Banker, Ph.D., Vice President of Research Communications for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society states, “Significant progress has been made in curing cancer and improving the long-term survival of children with cancer. Unfortunately, as many as two-thirds of survivors may experience at least one lasting effect of cancer treatments. Many of these are late effects that are life changing or even life threatening, but they might be avoided if cancers could be detected early and full cancer development halted. Dr. Wiemels is applying state-of-the-art genetic techniques so that doctors might be able to recognize cancer progression very early and treat it when it might be easiest to cure without long-term negative effects.”

About Friends of Heroes (FOH)
Friends of Heroes, formerly Friends of Allie, is the first and largest national Friends and Family Team for Light The Night Walk. Motivated by the plight of Allie Scott (www.scotthousehold.com) and other children battling blood cancers like her, a grassroots movement emerged shortly after Allie’s passing, resulting in the formation of FOH and its unprecedented fundraising efforts for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. FOH enlarged its scope to include affiliate teams—both corporate and Friends and Family teams—who share their passion for finding a cure for pediatric blood cancers and making a difference in the lives of families stricken by pediatric blood cancer. Their tagline is “Putting a Face on Childhood Cancer.”

For more information, please visit: www.friendsofheroes.org

About Light The Night Walk
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 from the Walk 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.

Light The Night is open to all—it does not require a particular level of fitness. In 2006, thousands of people in approximately 250 communities in the United States and Canada participated in a Light The Night Walk event, raising nearly $33 million for research and patient services.

For more information, please visit: www.lightthenight.org

About The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society
The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, headquartered in White Plains, NY, with 68 chapters in the United States and Canada, is the world’s largest voluntary health organization dedicated to funding blood cancer research and providing education and patient services. The Society’s mission: Cure leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin’s disease and myeloma, and improve the quality of life of patients and their families. Since its founding in 1949, the Society has invested more than $550 million in research specifically targeting leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma. Last year alone, the Society made 4.2 million contacts with patients, caregivers and healthcare professionals.

For more information about blood cancer, visit www.LLS.org or call the Society’s Information Resource Center (IRC), a call center staffed by master’s level social workers, nurses and health educators who provide information, support and resources to patients and their families and caregivers. IRC information specialists are available at (800) 955-4572, Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. ET.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

RECRUITING AND RAISING AWARENESS TO FIND A CURE FOR CHILDHOOD CANCER‘Friends of Allie’ Kicks Off Recruitment Drive Benefiting
The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Light The Night Walk

DALLAS, TX – Friends of Allie (FOA), the largest friends and family Light The Night® Walk team raising funds for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, will kick off a recruiting and fundraising drive with its second annual nationwide Awareness Day on September 9, 2006 at locations across North America.

In addition to signing up Light The Night walkers and teams, raising money and increasing awareness of the Society, the team also hopes to be a step closer to placing its name on a pediatric research grant awarded by the Society. In order to achieve this naming opportunity, the team must raise at least $100,000 for the 2006 Light The Night Walk.
The national goal for this team of more than 1,600 walkers is $312,000, an amount that would bring its total for three Light The Night Walk seasons to more than $1 million.

FOA is excited to participate in this year’s Awareness Day and to raise awareness and money towards a pediatric research grant and patient services.

“Our passion is to raise awareness for childhood cancer and the need to find a cure for our children’s and grandchildren’s generation. Awareness Day helps us reach out to our communities and make a difference for families stricken with blood cancers. We are thankful for each person who stops to learn more about blood cancers, donates towards our cause, or commits to walk or help,” says Jennifer Burgess, National Public Relations Director for FOA.

FOA raised over $688,300 in just 15 months to support the Society’s mission: Cure leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin’s disease and myeloma, and improve the quality of life of patients and their families.

To walk with or sponsor FOA, please contact Name at email and/or phone number. Email inquiries to locate a local FOA team to Lynette at teamcaptainrelations@friendsofallie.org.

About Friends of Allie
FOA is the largest national Friends and Family Team for Light The Night Walk. Motivated by the plight of Allie and other children battling blood cancers like her, a grassroots movement emerged shortly after Allie’s passing, resulting in the formation of FOA and its unprecedented fundraising efforts for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. FOA enlarged its scope to include affiliate teams—both corporate and Friends and Family teams—who share their passion for finding a cure for pediatric blood cancers and making a difference in the lives of families stricken by pediatric blood cancer.

For more information, please visit: www.friendsofallie.org

About Light The Night Walk
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 from the Walk 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 and red for supporters. Dedication banners provide an opportunity to display a name or message, honoring or commemorating a family member or friend with cancer.

Light The Night is open to all—it does not require a particular level of fitness. In 2005, thousands of people in approximately 250 communities in the United States and Canada participated in a Light The Night Walk event, raising nearly $26 million for research and patient services.

For more information, please visit: www.lightthenight.org

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