The Light The Night Blues

So the Light The Night Walk is less than two weeks away. I have to say I'm a little disappointed this year. Our team is only half the size it was last year and the fundraising hasn't gone as well as I'd hoped. I've already lowered our team goal twice, from a lofty $5000, to a more reasonable $2500, and recently down to $1000. I've also lowered my personal goal to $100. As of today, the team has raised $645 online. One way that Maria, Vivian and I are trying to raise money is by selling candy at work. We sell candy for $1 each to our co-workers and all the profit (just under 50 cents) goes towards our Light The Night goals. It's an easy way to raise money without having to constantly bother our friends and family for donations. We haven't added that money to our total yet, so I'm hoping for at least $200-250 more between the three of us.

It just seems like people aren't as interested this year in walking, and/or raising money. My only guess is that last year, both Sarah and I were in the thick of dealing with cancer and treatment, so we had a lot more people who wanted to be there and support us. Since we are both now in remission and back to our normal lives, I think some people have moved on. I really do appreciate those who signed up this year and who are trying to raise money. I'm glad people want to be there to support me, but unfortunately, it doesn't help cancer research and save lives unless they also fundraise. Maybe I have the wrong attitude about it. I just can't help that I feel disappointed this year. I'm sure the day of the walk, it'll be great to see everyone there for a good cause and to know that whatever amount we come up with is more than if we didn't do anything at all.

It's not too late for you to donate!

Light The Night Walk: Results

Last night was the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's Light The Night Walk. Although my feet still haven't forgiven me, I had a great time! I got to meet some great people and I think we all really felt part of something awesome! Team Reese's Pieces raised over $3200 online plus some cash and check donations that were turned in at the event. All in all, the walk raised over $180,000 for LLS.


Everyone attending the walk got a lighted balloon to walk with. Sarah, Rebecca and I received white balloons and special shirts signifying that we are cancer survivors.


Walkers there showing their support received a red balloon while those walking in memory of someone received a gold balloon. Over 1000 people walked for two miles along the lakefront and back.


I am so happy to have participated in the event and am grateful to everyone that walked on or donated to our team. We were more successful than I ever thought we would be. I can't wait for next year to try and raise even more!

Below are random photos from the walk of our team:

Light The Night Walk: Update

It's only a few days until the Light The Night Walk for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. This past Saturday, we held our yard sale and lemonade stand as planned. Two of our friends that are walking on Thursday, Jada and Vivian, participated in the sale, while we also received additional items to sell from my mom and our friends Nicole, Jerry and Heather.

We decided not to put prices on our yard sale items in hopes that people would offer more since all proceeds were going to charity. I'm not sure that actually was the case as people seemed to be bargain hunting and there were quite a few things that sold for less than I would have liked. The good thing is some people did give above and beyond, so that helped make up for the cheapskates. :)

We sold cups of lemonade for any donation amount and candy bars for $1 each. Vivian also grilled hot dogs and sold them for $1 during the sale. Although we still had a lot of items left at the end of the sale (that were then donated to Goodwill), we did raise over $260 from the yard sale, plus the additional donations from the lemonade, hot dog, and candy sales. In the end, over $300 was raised for LLS.

I was worried for awhile that our team may not make the $2000 goal I set for it a few weeks back, but as of right now, the team has raised $2190 online. Maria (with help from Vivian) has been selling candy bars at work to help reach her goal. Once the yard sale and candy bar proceeds are submitted and everybody turns in any cash and check donations they have received, our team will have raised over $2500 - probably more!

Remember, it's not too late to donate! Click here to donate to me or click here to donate to Maria. Any amount is appreciated!

Light The Night Walk: Update & Yard Sale Plan

Our team, Reese's Pieces, is doing great! We have raised almost $1500 and have a goal of $2000 with just under a month left until the walk. An email was sent out that identified the top 10 fundraising teams so far, and our team is in 7th place, so that's awesome!

I had a great lunch with Jada and Wednesday and we worked out some ideas to hold a yard sale and lemonade stand at my house on September 12th with all proceeds benefiting the Light The Night Walk for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Hopefully many members of the team will join us and help raise money at the sale and maybe some of our friends and family will stop by to show their support as well!

If you haven't yet, please consider making an online donation to me in any amount. It's super easy, it's tax deductible, and it makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside! Click here to visit my donation page today!

Light The Night Walk: Getting Started

A couple weeks ago, Maria found out that the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society would be holding its annual Light The Night Walk in September. We decided right away that we would do the walk and try to raise some money. I didn't think about it much after that until last week, when I had lunch with Jada and asked her to join our team. Of course, being the friend that she is, said "yes" immediately. I probably could have asked her to do something crazy, like swimming with piranhas for charity, and she would have still said "yes." (Thanks Jada!)

So yesterday, while sitting around, taking it easy after my most recent treatment, I finally got around to typing up an email to all our friends and family, asking them to join the team and/or donate. I also talked to my mom to see if she and my step-dad Cameron would walk with us.

Now, less than 24 hours later, several people have joined our team and they have already raised $130! That's pretty awesome. Also, I am not the only person directly affected by Hodgkin's Lymphoma on our team. Rebecca, a friend/former co-worker battled Hodgkin's twelve years ago and is doing great after all these years! Sarah was diagnosed with Hodgkin's in February. Her most recent scan came back cancer-free (yay!) and now she is just finishing up her course of chemotherapy. Since Sarah was ahead of me in her diagnosis and treatments, she was able to answer questions I had and let me know that what I was experiencing was "normal." I am so glad they have both signed up for the walk and are already raising money!

Maria is planning on doing some fundraising at work, while I need to think of things I can do from home this summer to raise money. Since I'm stuck in the house most of the time, I've given myself a small goal of raising $50.00, although more would be nice!

With that in mind, I'm asking all my friends and family reading this blog to consider donating to this worthwhile cause. It doesn't have to be much, especially in this rough economy, but any little bit helps.

You can donate cash or checks to me directly or use a credit/debit card online here.

If you would like to join the team and walk with us, you can do so here.

Thanks for reading and I plan to update this blog with our team's progress periodically.