The United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) is one of North America’s largest labor organizations with more than 1.3 million members. UFCW has been a powerful voice for The Leukemia & Lymphoma (LLS) for 33 years, raising more than $80 million to support LLS's goal of creating a world without blood cancer since the partnership began.
In 2016 alone, UFCW generated more than $4.3 million in the United States and Canada through a variety of fundraising efforts ranging from golf outings to dinners.
Thousands of UFCW staff members participated in this year’s Light The Night Walk and raised nearly $300,000 and counting for LLS. UFCW continues to be a strong supporter of LLS’s fight against blood cancers, and their endless generosity continues to be appreciated.
This year, UFCW Local 1500 had a particularly special Light The Night Walk at Eisenhower Park in Long Island, NY. The team of 75 walkers marched in honor of the late Frank Meehan, who many referred to as the “Cancer Kicker." Their Light The Night team booth displayed a huge image of Frank, who lost his battle to acute myeloid leukemia (AML) in 2014. He spent two decades leading the UFCW’s fundraising efforts to raise money for LLS to invest in research to find treatments and cures for blood cancers. As president of the Long Island, NY Local 1500, he was one of the first leaders to act upon the union’s national relationship with LLS.
In the spring of 2014, in a twist of fate, he ended up losing his life to one of the most aggressive forms of leukemia he’d been working so hard to see cured. The devoted husband, father, and grandfather was 75 years-old.
The Local 1500 2016 Light The Night team has raised more than $50,000 and counting, in honor of Frank. They also contributed a $15,000 sponsorship, something they had never done before.
Local 1500 President, Tony Speelman, was also the corporate walk chair for Long Island’s Light The Night Walk. He is the first UFCW President to serve in this capacity.
“Frank Meehan did so much for others and he was devoted to finding a cure for blood cancer. We will continue his legacy and fight this horrible disease in his honor,” said Tony Speelman. “Giving back to the community is the fabric of our union, and we are honored to be a part of helping The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society find a cure for blood cancer.”
UFCW Local 1500 Light The Night Team at Eisenhower Park, Long Island.
The UFCW, the largest private sector union in the country, represents workers in the grocery industry as well as nursing homes; retail clothing stores; poultry, meatpacking and food processing plants; and in numerous other retail and food manufacturing areas.