Welcome to my personal Light the Night fundraising page in support of Team #RachelStrong!
In October 2017, having experienced Rachel’s heart-breaking Acute Myeloid Leukemia diagnosis and treatment, our team committed to supporting the research and support for the blood cancer community. We hoped that by doing so, future pediatric blood cancer patients would have more treatment opportunities and better outcomes.
Over the past 6 years, you have been an important supporter of our fundraising efforts for Light the Night and the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of Canada (LLSC). We are forever grateful for your support! Together we have raised an incredible $630,000 with Team #RachelStrong over the last six campaigns since Rachel received her life-saving bone marrow transplant from Hayley. 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.
Since the beginning, it has been our objective to bring a greater focus to pediatric blood cancers. At the urging of our team and other like-minded teams across the country, LLSC has responded, allocating additional funding to pediatric-focused research and increasing their support and advocacy activities. 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. We have seen these impacts firsthand as Rachel recovered from AML.
These problems are not unique to Canada; they are a worldwide issue that is increasingly being recognized and addressed collectively. In addition to its ongoing program of funding research and support, LLSC has joined with similar organizations in the US and around the world to create the Dare to Dream program. This program will raise the level of collaboration in research, policy, and advocacy and expand pediatric support & services for children - and especially acute leukemias. It will provide access to groundbreaking precision medical care that will allow the development of individually designed treatments for patients.
Team #RachelStrong is a big supporter of this initiative because Canadian kids deserve access to these important advancements. The way to ensure this happens is to make sure that the funds for research, treatment facilities and patient care continue to flow. Fundraising to improve the outcomes for pediatric blood cancer patients is a major step forward in the journey to make blood cancers a thing of the past.
As a result, Team #RachelStrong is continuing our support for Light the Night in 2024 and is hoping to bring our total contributions over the $700,000 mark. We hope we can count on you to continue as part of our team!
All donations go directly to the LLC’s Light the Night campaign, and tax receipts are issued immediately.
Thank you for being part of the Team #RachelStrong community and for your continuing support. It means the world to us.
