Welcome to our personal Light the Night fundraising page in support of Team #RachelStrong!
In October 2018, having experienced Rachel's heart-breaking Acute Myeloid Leukemia diagnosis and treatment, our family committed to supporting the research and supports for the blood cancer community. We hoped by doing so that future pediatric blood cancer patients would have more treatment opportunities and better outcomes than were available to Rachel.
Over the past few years, we have worked to make good on this commitment by fundraising efforts for Light the Night and the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of Canada (LLSC). We are forever grateful for the community that has rallied to support us! Together we have raised close to $750,000 with Team #RachelStrong over the last seven campaigns since Rachel received her life-saving stem cell transplant. In doing so, Team #RachelStrong has become a major funder for the blood cancer community in Canada.
The funds we have raised together have been used by the LLSC to fund life-saving research into blood cancers and to provide support for those affected by a blood cancer diagnosis. We all can take satisfaction in knowing we were there as this community achieved remarkable progress in the way leukemia and lymphoma are treated and saw a steady improvement in survival rates.
While improving the outcomes for all blood cancer patients is important, it has been our objective to bring a greater focus to pediatric blood cancers. Blood cancers are biologically different in children than in adults and treating them using adult protocols often leaves them with lifelong health impacts. These include secondary cancers, severe physical and cognitive impairments, cardiac problems, and a range of ailments the medical community is only beginning to understand. Together with other like-minded teams, our advocacy has resulted in LLSC allocating additional funding to pediatric focused research and increasing support and advocacy activities.
These problems are not unique to Canada; it is a worldwide issue that is increasingly being addressed collectively. In 2024, LLSC joined with similar international organizations to adopt the Dare to Dream Project. This program will raise the level of collaboration in research, policy, advocacy and expanded pediatric support & services for children with acute leukemias. It will provide access to groundbreaking precision medical care that will allow development of individually designed treatments for patients. Canadian kids deserve access to these important advancements but to make this happen we must ensure that the funds for research, treatment facilities and patient care continue to flow.
As a result, Team #RachelStrong is continuing our support for Light the Night in 2025. Our campaign will culminate on October 25, 2025 with the Light the Night celebration at the Shipyard in North Vancouver. Together we will participate in a walk to honour those who have lost their battle with cancer, comfort those on their cancer journey and celebrate the survivors.
We hope we can count on you to continue as part of our team! If you are able, please click on red DONATE button and give what you can.
Thank you for being part of the Team #RachelStrong community and for your continuing support. It means the world to us.
Cheers
Penny and Ken
