On October 19th, hundreds of people gathered at the Lake County Fairgrounds for the Light the Night Walk in Northwest Indiana.
The event is a celebration of all the hard work and effort that the area has shown in their efforts to raise money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (LLS). Local teams of people came to show their support of those they know who are battling blood cancer.
Most people at the walk wore shirts and accessories in orange, the color for leukemia and lymhoma.
The team of Ron’s Night Crawlers decked themselves out in orange boas and carried around a board with a photo of their team’s namesake to remind them why they were fighting.
The team of Ricky’s Angels continued to raise money by holding a raffle and silent auction under the shelter where most of the event took place. Their large team set up the items over a number of tables to display their fundraisers to the other teams. With all the money they raised, Ricky's Angels was awarded second place for their donations to the event.
The Jump in for a Cure team recieved first place because their many benefits raised over $7,000 for the LLS.
Their team leader, Jennifer Long of Portage, was recognized as the Honored Hero for this chapter of the Light the Night Walk.
An Honored Hero is a leukemia or lymphoma survivor or patient who has been inspirational to the blood cancer comunity. Long’s mother nominated her for the title.
“It mean’s a lot,” said Long. “It’s very special and something I’ll never forget.”
As part of her title, Long was given the honor of counting down the last ten seconds before the crowd took off for a lap around the Lake County Fairgrounds as they walked to end cancer.
As they walked, participants filled the sky with three colors of balloons: a strong wave of red for supporters, a hopeful smattering of white representing survivors, and a sobering amount of gold that reminded everyone of those who have been lost to a blood cancer.
Along the pathway, the LLS placed signs detailing the facts of leukemia and lymphoma. According to their statistics, four people are diagnosed with leukemia every minute, and someone loses their battle with blood cancer every 10 minutes.
Dr. Mohamed Farhat of Miciana Hematology Oncology was welcomed to give a speech in front of Light the Night participants. He works to help families find a cure so that their loved ones battling cancer will not become part of that 10 minute statistic.
“While it is true that 48,000 cases of Leukemia are expected to be diagnosed in the United States in 2013, and nearly 750,000 people are living with lymphoma or are in remission, we see now that blood cancer can be treated, and sometimes blood cancer can be cured,” said Farhart in his speech.
He and his colleauges work side by side with the LLS, since they both share the same goal of saving blood cancer patients.
“The cure begins here," said Farhat. "It begins in our hearts, it begins in our souls, and it begins with you. It begins today.”
