Last week we launched Play2Cures, a website where you can help us raise $100,000 in 100 days by playing casual games. We launched in collaboration with PledgePlay, a company born out of father Jim Carol’s experience with dealing with his son, Taylor, being diagnosed with leukemia. Check out the video that talks more about Taylor's story.

So how does Play2Cures work?

Make a pledge. First you pledge any amount you prefer (minimum is $10) with your credit card – don’t worry your credit card information is secure. Each dollar you pledge gets you one Game Token, and one token can be used to play one game.

Play a game. Now that you have at least 10 tokens you can play one of five games: Putt Nutz (a little like miniature golf), SudokuSave (a cross between Sudoku and Tetris), Seven Solitaire (basic solitaire – but with fun music and animations), Ladybug (you need good eye-hand coordination) and MusicCatch (a bit mesmerizing).

Share those tokens. If you don’t think you can use all of your tokens or if you think a friend would enjoy playing games to cure blood cancers, you can email them and share some of your tokens.

Take a look at the leaderboard. If you’re the competitive type, swing by the rankings page to see how you compare to your fellow gamers.

Playing online casual games might not be your cup of tea (I’ll admit I’m pretty hooked on games myself), but remember you can still donate and give all of those tokens away to someone who does like to play. You can also show your support by posting one of our web badges on your website or social networking page.

There are also many other ways to support The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. You can send us a donation, participate in one of our events, volunteer – and much more.

Learn more about Play2Cures via our press release and lls.play2cures.org.

Exciting news! On August 7, 2008 The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) announced the new TrialCheck® service which was launched collaboratively with the Coalition of Cancer Cooperative Groups.

This is great for a couple of reasons.

First, we support clinical trials as being one of the most viable treatment options for blood cancer patients. Clinical trials have gotten a bad rap, but the truth is that participation in research studies provides patients with access to treatment that is at least as high quality as standard care. Many patients who are involved in clinical trials also say they are glad to have the opportunity to help other cancer patients.

Second, we're doing this because we're interested in making it as easy as possible to find cancer clinical trials near you. Clinical trials aren’t for everyone, but if you are interested in exploring this option it’s literally just a few keystrokes and clicks of the mouse to get to the information you need.

So how does it work?

Once you are on the TrialCheck® website, you will be prompted to fill out a short questionnaire. This will tell the system what clinical trials to display for you in the final search results.

Your results will be displayed after you click the “Show Results” button. If you choose to enter your zip code, the clinical trials that are closest to that zip code will display first, making it easy to find convenient options if distance is a concern for you.

You can also save your search results so you don't have to do the same search again; all you have to do is register. You can also email the results to others.

Not sure what a clinical trial is, or concerned it might not be for you? Visit our Clinical Trial Service webpage to learn more about the ins and outs of clinical trials.

Visit the TrialCheck® website today to find a clinical trial near you.

Have you participated in a clinical trial before? Is it something you would do again if you had to do it all over?