This year we commemorate the tenth year of Light The Night walks which honor blood cancer patients in 230 cities across North America.

This week we embark on the first of ten weeks of Light The Nights and celebrate the $39 million dollars raised for blood cancer research and patient services.

Through The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, great strides have made “A Decade of Difference”. In the past 10 years:

• Nearly half a million patients and their caretakers have called the LLS Information Resource Center and received critical information about blood cancers, therapy options and issues surrounding treatment and survival.
• Nearly $40 million was disbursed to patients through the LLS Patient Assistance program to help them get the treatment they needed to fight their cancer.
• Over 100,000 patients and family members found comfort and hope through LLS First Connection and Family Support Groups.
• LLS granted $425 million to more than 400 scientists searching for cures and improved treatments for patients.
• LLS funding contributed to the development of a host of new drugs that are affecting patient survival and quality of life.
• LLS-funded researchers began working in novel areas that hold great promise for finding cures and better treatments including new, less toxic stem cell transplants, immunotherapies and other targeted therapies.
• Our Advocacy Network has successfully supported pro-patient legislation that will:
  • Help advance blood cancer research
  • Extend Medicare coverage to include oral anti-cancer drugs
  • Help fund efforts to reach underserved blood cancer patients

From: lightthenight.org

Team Friends of Heroes is proud to be a part of this tremendous cause to find a cure for blood cancers and to make a difference in the lives of patients through the free services offered by LLS!

Blood cancers can strike at any time to people of all ages, ethnicities and degrees of health. We continue to raise funds and awareness for a cure to be found and so that families do not have to lose loved ones to these diseases.

Your support is vital in this effort! Please join us by registering for our team or donating towards our cause!

Visit http://teams.lightthenight.org/friendsofheroes to start making a difference today!

Thank you for stopping by! It’s Day 3 of the Blogging for Blood Cancer event! Today’s prizes include a Beautiful Handmade Soap set from 5-year-old Tasha and 5 pairs of assorted sterling silver earrings (valued at $25) from Designing-Diva. Yesterday’s winner was Commenter #2 – Carrie from PA. Click here to see what walk is closest to you and how you can join the Light The Night Friends of Heroes team.

To qualify to win, leave a comment with an answer to the question after reading the post.

So far we’ve blogged about the importance of blood cancer research and the Light The Night Walk. The one important component that ties these together is money.

Not only is the Light The Night walk an evening to honor blood cancer patients in the biggest battle of their lives, it is also to celebrate the teams of volunteers who fundraise to support blood cancer research and patient service. Funding is absolutely necessary for research to continue and this research will SAVE LIVES.

HOW YOUR DOLLARS ARE USED:

75 cents of every dollar spent goes directly towards supporting The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s mission of a cure. Society-funded research has led to key advances in understanding blood cancer and the life-saving drugs to fight them.

• $500 provides a patient with leukemia, lymphoma or myeloma with Patient Financial Aid to support medical treatment, medications and travel to medical appointments for one year.
• $500 allows 10 patients to login to a Webcast and receive the latest medical breakthroughs.
• $400 funds a Family Support Group program for one year.
• $100 provides three patients with access to an information teleconference.
• $100 allows four patients to make a first connection with a trained peer counselor.

THE TRIUMPHS:

• A newly FDA approved drug, Gleevac, has been shown to normalize blood counts in nearly all patients with chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML). Dr. Brian Druker, a Society-funded researcher, is responsible for this remarkable innovation in cancer research.
• In 1974 the 5 year survival rate for children with the most common form of leukemia was just 53%. Today, 86% of children diagnosed will survive.
• The five year survival rate for Hodgkin’s Lymphoma has nearly doubled from 40% in 1960 to 83% today.

PUTTING THE FUN IN FUNDRAISING:

Fundraising does not have to be a chore! The local Light The Night Staff is trained to help teams raise money and has easy and free tools available. To get new walkers started, some fundraising ideas include:

• Partnering with a business to sell Light The Night Paper Balloons can help contact donors that you wouldn’t normally reach. (Check our Walker Resources or this post for details.) Sometimes companies also have a matching gifts program to boost fundraising dollars.
• If you register for Light The Night and provide an email address, you’ll automatically have a secure online fundraising page created. You can personalize the page like this one or this one and send the URL to family and friends. Participants using the onine fundraising tend to raise about 200% more than those that don’t!
• What do you enjoy? Bowling, scrapbooking, barbeques, golf… turn it into a fundraiser! Visit our Fundraising Idea Sheet or the FOH Newsletters for more ideas.
• Anyone can fundraise! All it takes is a little creativity and passion. One of today’s sponsors is 5-year-old Tasha who sells her handmade soaps to help raise money for her two young friends with leukemia. If she can do it, so can you!

For even more ideas, see all posts under the Fundraising category.

ENTER TO WIN TODAY’S PRIZE:

For a chance to win, leave a comment answering

“How much of every dollar donated goes directly to
The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s mission?”

For an extra chance to win, leave another comment with an answer to this question:

“If you were raising money for Light The Night,
which fundraising activity would you pick?”
(or post your own creative fundraising idea!)

Ends at MIDNIGHT PST today.

You’ll also be entered for our grand prize to be drawn Monday for a $900 Timberland and Lacoste product assortment, courtesy of Samsonite. (Comments are moderated.)

Make sure to stop back all week for more information and even more chances to win!

Source: LLS.org