Light the Night

The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society Mission: Cure leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin's disease and myeloma, and improve the quality of life of patients and their families.

All of the treatments that we currently have for these diseases started out once as research and were developed through clinical trials,  for this reason LLS is a HUGE supporter of heme/malignancy clinical research.  They have directly supported several of the trials (both purely research based and with therapeutic intervention) that I have been involved with over the past four years and are continuing to do so today.

Initially I decided to walk in LLS's Light the Night Walk mainly to raise awareness these cancers.  With my Mom and sister raising money for breast cancer by walking 60 miles in three days, it seemed a little pathetic to be hitting people up for walking a few miles around UF campus with a lighted balloon.  Still, remembering what my mom once said about how generous people are when asked, I sent out a fundraising email to my friends and family.  I expected that a few people would donate a few dollars here and there, hopefully I'd make my $100 goal.   All I can say is that I was beyond blown away.  My original goal was not only met but exceeded before twenty-four hours had passed and for days after, I opened my email each morning and stared in amazement at the donations people had made over the previous night.  The generosity shown by my friends and family was astounding and touching because this cause means so very much to me and every dollar donated makes a difference.  100% of what was donated goes to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's programs to support the families and loved ones of our patients. 

The cherry on this double chocolate, brownie sunday with whipped cream and jimmies??  While the fundraising for this event wasn't  technically a competition, please rest assured that with your support...I won!  Dooce would say that I am the Valedictorian of our teams fundraising attempts: WINNING!

So while I think I've managed to contact everyone to say thank you, I just want to say it one more time from the very bottom of my heart, thank you SO much for your support and kindness.

Cogle Lab and BMTU Clinical Research Team

November 17, 2011