East Bay Businesses Partner with The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society to Save the Lives of Blood Cancer Patients

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., Oct. 28, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ --  Businesses in the East Bay are taking steps towards creating a world without blood cancers with The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) by sponsoring the 2015 East Bay Light The Night Walk. Astex Pharmaceuticals, Pacific Service Credit Union, Wells Fargo, Vistar and Destination Wealth Management have signed on as $10,000 sponsors, and Performance Foodservice and Diablo Valley Oncology have both committed to the walk as $5,000 sponsors. The Light The Night Walks across the country have helped LLS invest important funds for breakthrough research and provide access to life-saving treatments for blood cancer patients.

"We are beyond grateful to all of our sponsors for their generous contributions to LLS," said Victoria Gallagher, Light The Night Campaign Director. "Their support helps LLS fund critical research efforts and provide assistance to the families in our community dealing with a blood cancer diagnosis. Our sponsors are truly enabling LLS to save lives not someday, but today."

The Light The Night Walk is a powerful and unique LLS fundraising campaign, which brings together families and communities to honor blood cancer survivors and loved ones lost to the disease. The event also shines a light on the importance of finding cures and providing access to treatments for blood cancer patients. The walk is a family-friendly, non-competitive two-mile walk route and is accessible to all fitness levels. During the walks, participants carry illuminated lanterns – white for survivors, red for supporters and gold in memory of loved ones lost to cancer. The 2015 East Bay Light The Night Walk will take place on Saturday, November 7 at 5 p.m. P.T., at Civic Park in Walnut Creek, Calif.

Through its efforts, LLS has invested more than $1 billion in cutting-edge research to advance therapies. Thanks to research, survival rates for patients with many blood cancers have doubled, tripled and even quadrupled since the early 1960s. Yet, despite these advances, about one third of patients with blood cancer still do not survive even five years after their diagnosis. The efforts of Light The Night participants are helping LLS to improve survival rates and create a world full of cancer survivors.

To form a Light The Night team or to learn more, please call The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society Greater Bay Area Chapter at 415-625-1100 or visit www.lightthenight.org/gba.

About The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society
The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society ® (LLS) is the world's largest voluntary health agency dedicated to blood cancer.  The LLS mission: Cure leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin's disease and myeloma, and improve the quality of life of patients and their families.  LLS funds lifesaving blood cancer research around the world and provides free information and support services for patients and their loved ones.

Founded in 1949 and headquartered in White Plains, NY, LLS has chapters throughout the United States and Canada.  To learn more, visit www.LLS.org.  Patients and caregivers should contact the Information Resource Center at (800) 955-4572, Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. ET.

SOURCE Leukemia & Lymphoma Society - Greater Bay Area Chapter