The Light The Night Walk Blog

Fans Meet American Idol Contestant at Light The Night

lazzaric — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 18:06:50 GMT

At The Light The Night Walk in Savannah, GA this weekend, two fans were pleasantly surprised to meet one of their favorite American Idol stars, Stephanie Edwards. She gave a great performance and posed for photos with fans. Stephanie's inspirational, On Our Way, is the official song of The 2008 Light The Night season.

* Photos from: Scooting Around Savannah

These are the Days of our Lives . . .

lazzaric — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 20:55:52 GMT

How many soap fans out there? Come on, don’t be shy. Here at The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, we play favorites. The hands-down winner is NBC’s The Days of our Lives. Aside from entertaining audiences for more than 40 years with plot twists and cliff-hangers, drama and romance, the show has played an important role in educating people about LLS.

In 2002, Chloe, a leading character, was diagnoses with leukemia. Following her story, the audience learned about the threats of this disease and the struggle to find a matching marrow donor. The other characters joined together organize events, donate money, form walk teams and raise money for The Light The Night Walk. Take a look at this scene, which originally aired on September 20, 2002, where Roman and Kate end a heated argument to participate in walk.

The show has been a invaluable supporter of Light The Night. In these last six years, they’ve featured the event several times, tied in fundraisers and included stories touching some of the most popular characters. And we love every minute of it!

Dianne & Chuck: For Love and the Mission

lazzaric — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 20:29:46 GMT

Team I Do: Put yourself in the shoes of Dianne or Chuck, in Orange County, CA. They met and began dating and fell in love. Shortly after, Dianne was hospitalized and diagnosed with Stage IV Lymphoma. With this terrifying news, Dianne told Chuck that he should run for the door – that her diagnosis wouldn’t be fair or fun for him. Remarkably, Chuck said “Dianne, when God gives you a gift, you don’t give it back.” And from that moment on, the pair knew they would fight tooth and nail to battle cancer and face the world, together. Chuck proposed to Dianne at her hospital bedside.

Three months into a relationship, I can’t imagine that there are too many people who would have faced this threat the way that Chuck did.

After six months of excruciating chemotherapy and treatments, with Chuck by her side, Dianne is now in 100% remission. And the two are due to be married this September. Happily ever after ---

The story could end here, but instead, this astounding couple is selflessly turning their wedding celebration into a $10,000 fundraiser for Light The Night. They are marrying on Friday and inviting their 60 guests to “walk with them after they walk down the aisle” as “Team I Do” on Saturday at The Light The Night Walk.

In addition, Dianne and Chuck are spending some time leading up to the wedding attending and hosting fundraising events – like a “Survivor Strut” Fashion Show. And to top that all off, Dianne has also buddied-up with a Team In Training participant who is now training for a marathon in her honor.

Well, needless to say, this story just touched my heart. Here they are, facing cancer (and kicking it's butt!), marrying the loves of their lives, and, if they didn't have enough on their plates, dedicating their special day to help LLS! This type of generosity and selflessness does not come around often. And I am honored to be a part of an organization with such beautiful supporters.

Do you know a unique fundraising or mission-related story? I’d love to share it. Leave a comment or email me.

New Facebook Badges and Pins to Show your Support!

lazzaric — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 20:27:53 GMT

Are you walking in The Light The Night Walk or supporting someone who is walking? Well, now you can add Facebook badges to show your friends! We’ve created some icons that will let people know what’s important to you. And, they’re a cinch to add to your profile.

How to add a badge to your profile:

First, sign into Facebook.
Then, add the Pins! And Badges Application to your profile.
Next, click the “browse” tab to search for the LLS badges. (HINT: Type “*LLS:*” into the search box to find them quickly.)
Add the badges you like to your profile! That’s it!

And, there’s more than you can do. If you’re already registered for Light The Night, you can link directly to your online fundraising page from your badge! It’s a quick and easy way to encourage your Facebook network to support you.

How to upload a badge:

First, right click and save any of the badges up top.
Next, make sure you’re signed into Facebook and add the Pins! And Badges Application to your profile.
Click on the “upload” tab and upload the badge you just saved.
Name it (ex: Christine’s Light The Night Badge) and enter in the URL of your fundraising page.
Click “Preview my pin” and choose the version that looks the best. And click one the checkbox under “approve.”
Add it to your profile and you’re done!

You can add as many as you’d like and invite your friends to add some too! We’d love to see what you’ve done with these badges, so leave me a comment, join the LLS Facebook Group, or add me as a friend!

UPDATE 7/15/2008: We now have instructions for adding the badges to your Myspace profile. Visit our Myspace page and look in the "Heroes" section for the badges and HTML codes to add them to your page! You can even use that code on your own blog. Good luck and thanks for the support!

The Sound of Support

lazzaric — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 13:04:31 GMT

We are excited to announce an incredible new partnership. We all remember Stephanie Edwards for her stand-out performances on Season 6 of American Idol. Since the show ended, she’s been quite busy. And this year, the talented young recording artist has teamed up with The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society for Light the Night. Her beautiful and inspirational song, On Our Way (written by Julie Wilde), is the soundtrack of the 2008 Light the Night Walk nationwide.

Listen to a clip here.

If you like it, send the clip to a friend and purchase the whole album. It’s a deal at $5. And, Stephanie is graciously donating $2 from every purchase to support Light the Night.

So, not only are we fortunate enough to have this motivational song and up-and-coming starlet set the stage for our event, but proceeds from the sale of the album will help support programs, research and patient services in our efforts to fight blood cancers.

What a great way to kick off the Light the Night season! Get those walking shoes out, Light the Night is just around the corner.