Friends of Allie Announces Opportunity to Put Their Name on a Grant Bestowed by The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society

Team Friends of Allie must raise $100,000 to achieve The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's grant-naming opportunity to support a pediatric cancer researcher. Friends of Allie is The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's largest fundraising team for annual Light The Night Walk.

White Plains, NY (PRWEB) September 12, 2006 -- Forget the logo sweatshirt or that new i-pod, Friends of Allie (FOA), a national Light the Night (LTN) Walk Team raising funds for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, hope to claim a bigger prize at the end of 2006 -- the chance to place the group’s name on a pediatric cancer research grant. The team must raise $100,000 to receive the Society’s grant-naming opportunity, but they don’t plan to stop there. 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 Walks seasons to more than $1 million -- all raised in just over two years.

FOA raised over $688,300 in 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.

Jennifer Burgess, National Friends of Allie Team Leader and a local team captain, is thrilled to have an opportunity to make a difference in the lives of pediatric cancer patients and their families during Light The Night which will be held in cities across North America.

“The grant naming opportunity is an amazing way for individuals to help fund a cure for childhood cancers. I am not a scientific researcher, but my fundraising monies can help Society researchers develop better treatments and early detection tests for leukemia,” says Burgess.

After reviewing several researchers and grant options from the Society, FOA selected Joseph Wiemels, Ph.D., University of California, San Francisco, as a grantee for his research in the area of childhood leukemia.

“We are trying to answer the question: what causes childhood leukemia?” declares Dr. Wiemels.

For each $100,000 raised, the team will have Dr. Wiemels’ grant named in its honor for up to three years total. Dr. Wiemels’ grant is made under the Society’s Career Development Program (CDP), which funds talented researchers at different points in their developing careers.

Dr. Wiemels project summary states: "Leukemia is the most common cancer in childhood. Despite many advances in the treatment of childhood leukemia, the disease remains a tragic circumstance in suffering and mortality. The advances in treatment are not matched by advances in discovering the cause or means to prevent the disease.

"Leukemia is associated with genetic changes in certain types of blood cells… However, we have very little information about the genetic changes that occur after birth and how these changes ultimately cause leukemia.”

FOA has several events and announcements planned in the months leading up to the 2006 LTN event, including an Awareness Day and local fundraising drives. More information on these activities will be shared as plans become finalized.

To walk with or sponsor FOA, please contact Jennifer Burgess.

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 http://www.friendsofallie.org.

About the 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: http://www.lightthenight.org.

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