The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's - Light The Night 2008 - Contribution Request

October 2, 2009
Dear Friends of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society Event & Meeting Services department:

In over 250 communities across the country this fall, cancer survivors, friends and co-workers will participate in the 10th annual Light the Night, the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's evening walk to raise funds to fight blood cancers, and to commemorate all lives touched by cancer. This year, nearly 136,000 people in the United States will be diagnosed with leukemia, lymphoma or myeloma. This means that every five minutes, a new patient and their family will begin a journey that no one should have to endure. While we continue to make great strides combating these terrible diseases, the sad news is that approximately 52,000 people are still expected to die from blood cancers this year. That is why we need to act fast.

Each year, the Event & Meeting Services team and I reach out to companies and individuals that we know and work with to ask them to sponsor our participation in this event. Our team's personal goal is to raise $10,000 for LLS and it is my hope that you would make a gift towards the accomplishment of that goal. Your gift is tax deductible and I will acknowledge it upon receipt.

Our team has a personal reason to support this effort besides working for LLS. A cousin of our team member, Lucrezia LoGiudice is fighting ALL (Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia). This is Isabella and her story is below. This is just one story of many that our team reads about daily. I know times are tight economically for us all, but I hope the knowledge that you are truly helping those who suffer from blood cancers, will enable you to give this request your thoughtful consideration. We have also attached information on our research programs.

To contribute, please click on the link, http://www.active.com/donate/ltnWhite/2472_amandasturino, to provide a tax deductible donation via credit card or you can mail a check made out to LLS to my attention at the address below. We thank you for your support of LLS and look forward to working with you at a future LLS event.

Isabella is a little girl with big dreams and a big heart. She is also a seven year old who sadly is battling ALL. Isabella was diagnosed with ALL in spring of 2008. ALL was not the first diagnosis she was given. At first, she was thought to have Ewing Sarcoma, a rare bone disease. She was given a 20% chance of survival. The days following the Ewing Sarcoma diagnosis, countless tests were performed and second opinions were sought. No one in her family (a family who had been plagued by Leukemia before) thought they would ever be relieved to hear the disease she had was not Ewing Sarcoma, but it was in fact Leukemia. The strides that have been made with blood cancer research and treatment have given Isabella a 90% survival rate.

Since her diagnosis of ALL, Isabella has spent many nights in the hospital, endured countless needle pokes and emotional trauma no child should ever feel. She knows she must go through the pain to get better, to get back to being herself, doing the things she loves to do. She loves spending time with her family and playing outside with her cousins. She especially loves to sing and dance. One of her favorite songs to sing is "One Step at a Time" by Jordin Sparks. This song has more significance than she probably realizes, as she takes every day as it comes, takes every pill as scheduled, goes for treatment when needed, she takes it "one step at a time". She is enduring her road to remission... one step at a time.

Sincerely,
Amanda Sturino

http://www.active.com/donate/ltnWhite/2472_amandasturino

Amanda Sturino ~ Event & Meeting Manager
The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society
amanda.sturino@lls.org
T: 914.821.8245 F: 914.821.8966