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Community Corner

The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's Light The Night Walk

Conshohocken, PA (September 12, 2013) – Over 2,000 people from Eastern Pennsylvania will turn out for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s ® (LLS)Light The Night Walk ® (LTN) on Saturday, October 5th atCoca-Cola Park in Allentown. Registration begins at 4:30 p.m. and the Walk will start approximately at 6:30 p.m.

The Walk is an evening filled with inspiration. During the 2 miles leisurely walk, participants will carry illuminated balloons. Survivors will carry white balloons; red by supporters and gold in memory of loved ones who lost their lives to cancer. Thousands of walkers will form a community of caring, bringing light to the dark world of cancer.

Carol Messinger of Northampton County will be walking at this year’s Light The Night Walk® along with her friends and family. Messinger was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma on June 2, 2005 and has been battling the disease for the past eight years.

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“I have been given chemo and radiation for six out of the eight years,” Messinger said. “I decided from day one that this was going to be a fight that I would challenge.”

Despite Messinger’s cancer preventing her from fully indulging in many of her passions, including NASCAR racing, she remains positive. In fact, thanks to the Dale Earnhardt Foundation, Messinger was able to attend a NASCAR event at the Pocono Raceway where she met her hero, Dale Earnhardt Jr., an American stock car racing driver and owner.

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There is no fundraising minimum to participate in the Walk, but every walker is encouraged to become a Champion For Cures by raising $100 or more to help fight blood cancer. Funds raised by teams and individual walkers will provide lifesaving blood cancer research; free educational materials and events for patients and their families; local programs, such as Family Support Groups and First Connection, a peer-to-peer counseling program; and comprehensive, personalized assistance though.  

"Light The Night Walk gives hope to patients and their families and lets them know that they are not alone in their battle against cancer,” said Maida R. Milone, the Executive Director of the Eastern Pennsylvania Chapter. “It is a night to pay tribute to lives touched by cancer, honor those we have lost, and celebrate the lives that have been saved.”

Corporate sponsors for the 2013 Lehigh Valley LTN Walk are Air Products, Boyle Construction, Dun & Bradstreet, Good Shepherd, Just Born, Inc., J&J Development, Lehigh Valley Health Network, Red Robin/Lehigh Valley Restaurant Group. Community Partners are BSI Corporate Benefits, Devotion Spirits, Lehigh Valley IronPigs, and Vinart Dealerships/Lehigh Valley Honda. Media Sponsors include WFMZ News69, The Morning Call, and Lehigh Valley Style Magazine.

The Walk last year raised $274,000 for the Eastern Pennsylvania Chapter. This year’s goal is $304,000. It is still not too late to register for Light The Night. For more information, please call (610) 266-8513 or visit www.lightthenight.org/epa.  

About The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society®

The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society® (LLS) is the world’s largest voluntary health agency dedicated to blood cancer. LLS mission is to cure leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin’s disease and myeloma, and improve the quality of life of patients and their families. LLS funds lifesaving blood cancer research around the world and provides free information and support services.

Founded in 1949 and headquartered in White Plains, NY, LLS has chapters throughout the United States and Canada including the Eastern Pennsylvania chapter. To learn more, visit www.LLS.orgor contact the Information Resource Center at (800) 955-4572, Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. ET.

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