 Pat
joined the Team In Training to raise funds for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS). In
honor of a dear friend, Pat walked a half marathon in Orlando,
Florida to raise funds to help combat leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin's
disease, and myeloma in the U.S. This year, one of these diseases
will prematurely end the lives of an estimated 58,300
people in the U.S. These blood
cancers will account for nearly 10.5% of the deaths from
cancer, based on the total of 555,500 cancer-related deaths (all sites).
Says Pat:
"As of February 15, 2006, I raised over $5,500! I finished the half marathon in
3 hours, 10 minutes and 7 seconds, not bad for my first! My goal
was to finish within 3 hours and 15 minutes. Many thanks
for your kind and generous donations!!"
 Since its founding in 1949, the LLS has
allocated more than $280 million for research targeting blood
cancers. The LLS dedicates 75% of every dollar to advance its
mission to cure leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin's disease, and myeloma, and
to improve the quality of life for patients and their families.
The LLS meets the Better Business Standards for ethical conduct and
charitable accountability. Every nine minutes, another child or
adult is expected to die from leukemia, lymphoma, or myeloma. This
statistic represents 158 people each day--seven people every
hour. Leukemia is the leading fatal cancer in young men and women
under age 20. The good news is that thanks to fundraising efforts
like this, overall survival rates from blood-related cancers have
tripled over the last ten years; in 1960, there was only a 10-15%
survival rate, and today there is over an 80-85% survival rate.
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