The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society Kicks Off Light The Night Fall Campaign

(Los Angeles, CA July 27, 2019) – The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s (LLS) California Southland Chapter celebrated its 2019 Light The Night® with a kick-off event and awards ceremony on July 27th at Dodger Stadium.  

During the year of 2018, LLS had a record-breaking year in fundraising efforts for the Light The Night Campaign. LLS celebrated those individuals and teams in a kick off and awards event in order to thank them for their hard work and tremendous contributions to last year’s incredible growth.  

Contributors and their families, LLS staff, and volunteers came together at the Dodger Stadium club, a private space perched high in the stadium, to commemorate. Staff and guests reveled in the view of the field while enjoying food and drinks in celebration.  

Justin Wieging, Director of Light The Night, hosted the awards ceremony, expressing his gratitude to the nominees.  He presented awards the “Shining Achievement in Personal Fundraising” award to the top teams. Many of these individuals credited their achievements to those they have lost and honored them when they received their awards. They held the awards as a symbol of hope and dedication to a brighter future. Additionally, several corporations in the Greater Los Angeles area received awards for “Superior Retail Excellence” in donations or fundraising. They were thanked for their dedicated support to the LLS mission. 

Justin ended his remarks in excitement and anticipation for this year’s upcoming walks. He thanked the guests and volunteers for their continuing support and encouraged them to continue to be a bright light in the fight against cancer.  

Light The Night is a fundraising campaign benefiting LLS and their funding of research to find blood cancer cures. Coming together for a common goal, friends, family and co-workers form fundraising walk teams. Millions of consumers also help by donating at retail outlets. Culminating in inspiration and memorable evening walks every fall, participants in 140 communities across North America join together carrying illuminated lanterns to take steps to end cancer – white for survivors, red for supporters and gold in memory of loved ones lost to cancer.  

“At Light The Night, it is our aim to bring light to the darkness of cancer through research and cures. We are taking steps to end cancer,” said Shannon Sullivan, LLS Executive Director. “The light and warmth we generate delivers hope in time of despair, community in place of loneliness and life-saving research and support for cancer patients and their families LLS’s Light The Night fund treatments that are saving the lives of patients.” 

This year walks will be held on October 5th and November 9th, at Woodland Hills and Los Angeles. 

LLS is at the forefront of the fight to cure cancer, and leaders in advancing breakthroughs in immunotherapy, genomics and personalized medicine. The impact of LLS supported research goes beyond blood cancers. The discoveries made in blood cancer research have led to breakthrough treatments for many cancers and other serious diseases. ​​

LLS was founded by a family for families, beginning 70 years ago at a time when a diagnosis of leukemia was nearly 100% fatal. Now, with the development of new treatments for childhood leukemia, to today’s advances in precision medicine and immunotherapy, LLS has had a colossal impact on advancing cancer cures, and changing the way cancer is treated and the care for patients.   

Through its efforts it has invested nearly $1.3 billion in cutting-edge research to advance therapies. Thanks to research, survival rates for patients with many blood cancers have doubled, tripled and even quadrupled since the early 1960s. Yet, despite these advances, about one third of patients with blood cancer still do not survive even five years after their diagnosis. 

To form a team or to learn more, please call the California Southland Chapter at (310) 342-6800 or visit www.lightthenight.org.