Sponsors continue to sign up for event
National City and Wal-Mart are the presenting sponsors for this year’s Light the Night walk in Fayette County. The walk will be held at 5:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 27, at the Uniontown Area High School. The event is held annually by the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society to support people whose lives have been touched by blood cancer.
“We are off to a great start in our fund-raising efforts for this year’s walk,” said honoary chairman state Sen. Richard Kasunic, D-Dunbar. “We kicked off our sponsorship drive on a cold and snowy day in February, had a great turnout and look forward to working in partnership with our sponsors again this year.”
Last year, 500 walkers and sponsors raised $74,000. This year, event planners are projecting raising $100,000 and anticipating 750 walkers.
Other sponsors of this year’s event that have signed up prior to March 25 include the Herald-Standard, WMBS Radio, First Federal Savings Bank, Fayette County Vocational-Technical School, Brothers Lazer, Jackson Farms, Uniontown Mall, the Prom Shoppe, Pechin’s, Firehouse Restaurant, Kingfish Worldwide Inc., Superior Automotive Group, Commonwealth Marketing, Ford Business Machines and McCarthy Public Relations Inc.
“We’re offering a number of sponsorship levels to make it easy for any company, big or small, to support this event,” said Chris Phillips, campaign coordinator for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. “Whatever a company’s reason for partnering with us, we promise that the results of their support will be worthwhile.”
In addition, the society has started to recruit teams for the walk. Teams made up of friends and family can honor a loved one in a special way. Corporate teams can enhance employee morale, encourage teamwork, gain visibility for their products and services and create a sense of goodwill, fellowship and achievement, Phillips said.
“If you’re corporation, a business or an individual, everybody knows somebody who’s been affected by a blood cancer,” said Phillips.
Businesses interested in becoming a 2008 Light the Night Walk sponsor or those individuals, businesses or corporations interested in forming a walk team can call Phillips at 412-395-2886.
The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society is the world’s largest voluntary health organization dedicated to funding blood cancer research and providing education and patient services. Founded in 1949, the society’s mission is to cure leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin’s disease and myeloma and improve the quality of life of patients and their families.
Society-funded research has contributed to major advances, not only in blood cancer treatments, but also in treatments for many other kinds of cancer.