LLS is teaming up with the National Hockey League (NHL®) and the National Hockey League Players’ Association’s (NHLPA) joint initiative, Hockey Fights Cancer™ annual campaign. This is LLS’s seventh season participating in HFC. The 18th annual Hockey Fights Cancer campaign kicks off on October 24 and runs until November 18.
In honor of Hockey Fights Cancer Awareness Month, many hockey fans will be showing their support for LLS through several exciting events going on throughout the country. As a charitable partner, LLS will be benefiting from several of these events—all to help fight cancer.
HFC brings together players, teams, fans and corporate partners to raise money through activities such as awareness nights, tournaments, raffles, merchandise auctions, and fundraising walks. Since its inception in 1998, the charitable initiative has donated more than $16 million to support national and local organizations involved in cancer care and research including local cancer research institutions, children’s hospitals, player charities and local cancer organizations. Lavender, the official color of Hockey Fights Cancer representing all cancers, will be featured prominently throughout the campaign.
This season, the NHLPA and NHL are partnering with five national cancer organizations – including two new organizations – to help raise funds and awareness of several forms of cancer including pediatric, blood, prostate, and pancreatic. The five national partners include: Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation; The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society; Movember; Pancreatic Cancer Action Network; and St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.
Here are some highlights of upcoming LLS fundraising activities during Hockey Fights Cancer:
LLS Night
On October 29, LLS will be honored with its very own “LLS Night” at the Minnesota Wild vs. Dallas Stars game at the Xcel Energy Center in Saint Paul, Minnesota. There will be LLS staff tabling at the concourse, collecting donations, and even making a special announcement about LLS at the game.
Hockey Fights Cancer Night
On November 15, The Xcel Energy Center in Saint Paul, Minnesota will be hosting the official Hockey Fights Cancer night at the rink. A chosen blood cancer patient will be featured on ice and presented with a signed jersey from the Minnesota Wild team.
Team Swag Bags
The Minnesota Wild will be donating “swag bags” to associations that fundraise for LLS by hosting Hockey Fights Cancer events.
Player Suite Exclusives
The Pittsburgh Penguins will be hosting various LLS-affiliated families in the player suites at a selected games. LLS will also be announced during the Pittsburgh Penguins’ games.
Contact your local chapter and see what events are happening near you!
On October 20, 1944, Robert “Robbie” Roesler de Villiers was only 16 years old when he died from leukemia. Robbie’s parents, Rudolph and Antoinette, were stricken with grief and frustrated by the lack of effective treatments for what was then considered a hopeless disease.
After five years of mourning their son, they started a fundraising and education organization in his name. The Robert Roesler de Villiers Foundation had only a few volunteers and a tiny budget.
At that time, the task to find a cure was extremely daunting. Most leukemia patients, especially children, died within three months. Even by the mid-1950s, when the first-generation chemotherapy drugs began appearing, the disease remained a stubborn challenge.
The Foundation’s 1955 annual report stated: "As of this date, leukemia is 100% fatal. This is almost a unique situation among the many diseases to which man is susceptible."
Driven by the family’s nearly boundless dedication, the Foundation continued to expand with an unrelenting mission to cure leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin's disease and myeloma, and improve the quality of life of patients and their families.
Today, it is The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS). We’re now the world's largest voluntary health organization dedicated to funding blood cancer research and providing education and patient services.
In our 67-year history, we have invested more than $1 billion in research to advance life-saving treatments and cures, and improve the quality of life of patients and their families. This investment has led to remarkable progress in treatments for patients.
Each decade there have been promising advances. From 1956 when a leukemia patient received the first successful bone marrow transplant to 2001 when imatinib (Gleevec®) was first approved, revolutionizing treatment for patients with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML), and introducing a groundbreaking new approach to cancer treatment.
Today, innovations are emerging at a dizzying rate, including immunotherapy and precision medicine, which show promise to dramatically improve outcomes for cancer patients.
And now we’ve come full circle. Just this week we launched our exciting Beat AML Master Trial, a groundbreaking clinical trial for patients with acute myeloid leukemia, among the most deadly cancers. We envision this unprecedented collaboration will stand as a model for future cancer clinical trials and, like we did with CML and immunotherapy, will change the paradigm of cancer treatment.
Louis J. DeGennaro, Ph.D., is CEO and president of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.
Today, Vice President Joe Biden’s National Cancer Moonshot announced a new series of commitments from federal agencies, private, philanthropic, and academic sectors, and the patient advocacy community, to accelerate cancer research progress and bring the most promising science and clinical developments to cancer patients quickly.
I have the honor of attending today’s Cancer Moonshot events in Washington, D.C., in support of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s unrelenting commitment to the Moonshot’s agenda. In our 67-year history, we have invested more than $1 billion in research to advance lifesaving treatments and cures, and improve the quality of life of patients and their families.
In conjunction with today’s Moonshot announcement, I am extremely proud that tomorrow we will officially launch a truly unique and innovative clinical trial for patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML), one of the most deadly blood cancers, which has seen few improvements in treatments in more than 40 years.
This groundbreaking clinical trial will use advanced genomic analysis to identify genetic mutations and test several investigational, targeted drugs to develop a precision medicine approach to treat AML patients. With a commitment to collaboration, this trial will involve multiple medical institutions, drug companies, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to drive this research forward.
Through clinical trials like this, researchers are able to discover new therapies and, ultimately, cures. Clinical trials are an essential foundation for the advancement of scientific research and life-saving treatments.
As part of today’s announcement, we also announced our commitment to increase access to clinical trials through a collaboration with the National Black Church Initiative (NBCI), a faith-based coalition of churches, by providing education about clinical trials to approximately three million African Americans in major cities throughout the country over the next five years. The educational initiative will have a special focus on blood cancers – specifically multiple myeloma, which is more than twice as common in African Americans as non-minority populations.
We will also increase our efforts to help patients enroll in clinical trials by expanding our personalized clinical trial navigation service, aiming to help 2,500-3,000 patients enroll in clinical trials over the next five years. Our masters-level Information Specialists work tirelessly to help patients find and enroll in clinical trials to access the most cutting-edge treatments for their diagnosis.
The release of today’s Cancer Moonshot report signifies an important next step in our effort as a nation to accelerate research to find a cure. At LLS, we are thrilled that the administration continues to maintain a heightened national focus on accelerating science and medicine. We’re ready for lift off.
Louis J. DeGennaro, Ph.D., is CEO and president of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society
On October 20, 1944, Robert “Robbie” Roesler de Villiers was only 16 years old when he died from leukemia. Robbie’s parents, Rudolph and Antoinette, were stricken with grief and frustrated by the lack of effective treatments for what was then considered a hopeless disease.
Today, Vice President Joe Biden’s National Cancer Moonshot announced a new series of commitments from federal agencies, private, philanthropic, and academic sectors, and the patient advocacy community, to accelerate cancer research progress and bring the most promising science and clinical developments to cancer patients quickly.