Light the Night is a nationwide event designed to raise funds for research on blood cancers, which…
By Ayala Ben-Yehuda
Bayside will twinkle with the light of 1,000 illuminated balloons during The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s fifth annual Light the Night Walk on Sept. 21.
Light the Night is a nationwide event designed to raise funds for research on blood cancers, which affect more than 600,000 people in the United States, said Donna Canzano, the society’s campaign manager.
The Bayside walk will coincide with similar events in Manhattan and Staten Island. The group has held its previous walks in Flushing Meadows Corona Park but is hoping to increase its visibility this year by marching on Joe Michael’s Mile alongside the Cross Island Parkway.
“When we were in Flushing, if you weren’t in the park, you didn’t see the walk,” Canzano said.
The society’s New York City chapter was scheduled to hold a kick-off party Thursday from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. at Bayside’s Ramada Hotel, 220-33 Northern Blvd., to recruit participants for the event.
The free reception will feature survivors and staff from the organization who will inform visitors how they can sign up for the two- to three-mile non-competitive walk. Refreshments will be served.
Canzano called Thursday’s kick-off party a “moving and inspirational” event in which survivors of blood cancers will share their stories.
Canzano said 50 teams have already signed up and estimated about 1,000 people would participate. Cancer survivors and patients will be given white balloons, and friends and supporters will carry red balloons, both of which will contain small lights inside them.
Participants will be asked to solicit funds and then submit them in a special envelope either the night of the walk or at a special banking night beforehand.
The walk will take marchers from the Little Bay Park up to Bayside Marina and back with clowns, food and deejays at the start and finish.
Those interested in attending either the kick-off party or the walk on Sept. 21 can reach Canzano at 212-448-9206, Ext. 230.
Reach reporter Ayala Ben-Yehuda by e-mail at Timesledger@aol.com or call 718-229-0300, Ext. 146.
