By Matt Collette
Red and white balloons filled the night sky Oct. 4, an unseasonably warm fall day, as hundreds of people gathered in Boston Common for Light the Night, a walk to raise money and awareness for the Leukemia ‘ Lymphoma Society. Teams of friends, families and colleagues raised more than $400,000 for blood cancer research that night.
At 6 p.m., the night began with speeches from a few organizers. After, the groups began to walk the perimeter of Boston Common, each with a balloon in hand. The balloons included a small blinking light inside of it and as the sun set the balloons’ lights pulsed and illuminated the procession. Survivors of blood cancer carried white balloons while family, friends and other supporters carried red ones.
For Nicole Rizio, the decision to walk was personal.
“My father was diagnosed [with Hodgkin’s disease] my freshman year, so that was 2004. It was just two days before Christmas,” she said. Since August 2005, her father has been in remission, she said.
Rizio, a junior psychology major who volunteers with the Leukemia ‘ Lymphoma Society, and her roommate, Lindsey Cullity, who plays club basketball at Northeastern, convinced friends to walk with them.
“There are 15 girls from the club basketball team and another 10 from my chapter [Sigma Alpha Lambda] going,” Rizio said.
Members of the Northeastern chapter of the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity also walked to support one of their brothers, said Paul Tyman, risk awareness chairmember for the fraternity, which brought 25 participants to the walk.
“Last spring we had one of our brothers lose his father to Lymphoma, so we’re all here to support him tonight at Light the Night,” Tyman said.
Casey O’Neill, a sophomore pharmacy majors and Bouv’eacute; Fellow, walked with the freshman health science majors.
“We’re walking with our freshmen to get them to see the different community things they can get involved with, especially in the health sciences,” O’Neill said. “I think it’s really important for them to see how the community, especially in Boston, comes together for events like this.”
While waiting for the walk to begin, the group of about 100 Northeastern students from various clubs and organizations met together under a large black balloon bearing a Husky paw print. They waited for the walk to begin, then crossed the starting line together.
Joanne McMahon, president of the Massachusetts chapter of the Leukemia ‘ Lymphoma Society said. “Light the Night is a celebration and commemoration of lives touched by cancer. Tonight, you [walkers] are joining communities nationwide to raise funds and awareness. Many of you are here honoring loved ones or survivors, and still many are here honoring people that they don’t even know,” said McMohon, who became involved in the society in 1999, when her nephew was diagnosed with leukemia.
McMahon said, every five minutes someone is diagnosed with a blood cancer and every 10 minutes someone dies from one.
Master of ceremonies Tom Fitzgerald took a moment to joke about the heat while speaking to walkers, saying that “Miami Beach has never looked better, it’s absolutely fabulous. Isn’t it a great night tonight?”
Fitzgerald said community programs help raise awareness about diseases like Leukemia and Lymphoma and also improve the quality of life for patients fighting the disease, both by boosting morale and funding research nation wide. Eighty-two researchers in Massachusetts receive funding from the Leukemia ‘ Lymphoma Society.
“We want to thank you to show solidarity as we all walk together to cure these dreaded diseases,” Fitzgerald said.
Calling attention to the white balloons belonging to cancer survivors, Fitzgerald again reiterated the importance of community events.
“[The survivors] are here because of what you have done. Thank you for all you have done, and what you will continue to do in the future,” hr said. “Carry the balloons in a single hope, a hope that someday we can stop walking for the cure.”
