Celebrate a
Decade of Difference!

 Light The Night was first piloted in a chapters throughout the country in 1998. This is when our New Haven, Hartford, Fairfield and Stamford Light The Night Walk first originated. Since this time, a number of changes have occurred, we've added walks, changed walks and grown dramatically! During this time we've never lost sight of our mission - to cure blood cancers. Over the past ten years, millions of dollars have been raised in Connecticut alone.

Over the Past Decade:      

• Nearly half a million patients, family members and healthcare professionals have called the LLS Information Resource Center and received critical information about blood cancers, therapy options and issues surrounding treatment and survival.
  
• Nearly $40 million was disbursed to patients through the LLS Patient Assistance program, for transportation, lodging and other expenses, to help them get the treatment they needed to fight their cancer. 
  
• Over 100,000 patients and family members found comfort and hope through LLS  First Connection and Family Support Groups.
  
• LLS granted $425 million to more than 400 scientists searching for cures and improved treatments for patients.
  
• LLS funding contributed to the development of new drugs that are affecting patient survival and quality of life. Examples include:
                o Velcade® for the treatment of multiple myeloma and mantle cell
                    lymphoma
                o Dracogen® for myelodysplastic syndrome
                o Rituxan® for follicular lymphoma and diffuse large B-cell non-Hodgkin  
                    lymphoma
                o Gleevec® for chronic myelogenous leukemia
  
• LLS-funded researchers began working in novel research areas that hold great promise for finding cures and better treatments including new, less toxic stem cell transplants, immunotherapies and other targeted therapies.
  
• Our Advocacy Network has successfully supported pro-patient legislation including:
                o Doubling NIH funding over a five-year period to advance blood cancer
                   research
                o Extending  Medicare coverage to include oral anti-cancer drugs such as  
                  Gleevec®  and thalidomide.
                o Funding to reach underserved blood cancer patients at the Centers for
                   Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Join us as we Celebrate a Decade of Difference!