Lanterns to flood Los Angeles in support of Leukemia and Lymphoma Society
(Juliette Le Saint/ Daily Bruin contributor)
By Alexis Lim
Oct. 20, 2016 11:05 p.m.
A glowing sea of red, yellow and white lanterns will flood the streets of downtown Los Angeles on Saturday night.
The lanterns are the highlight of the Light the Night Walk, a fundraising initiative by the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. This year, UCLA Health partnered with LLS as the lead sponsor and is participating as a corporate team.
LLS is the world’s largest fundraising organization for blood cancers, said Katy Ciempa, senior campaign director of the Light the Night Walk. In addition to funding research, the organization provides education, support and financial assistance for patients.
UCLA Health has contributed more than $200,000 in sponsorship and donations to the Light the Night initiative. This is UCLA Health’s first time participating in the walk.
“(The) walk is significant because it provides money that will help us research (and) provide assistance to families that are going through treatment process,” said Johnese Spisso, president of UCLA Health and chair of the walk.
The lantern colors will signify the walkers’ different motivations, according to the Light the Night Walk’s website. Blood cancer survivors and their families will carry white lanterns, and red lanterns show support for those who are still fighting. Yellow lanterns will honor those who have lost their lives to blood cancer.
[Related: Student receives support, searches for donor after cancer diagnosis]
More than 60 UCLA Health subteams will participate in the event.
Martin Lingard, assistant director of logistics at the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, is a lymphoma survivor and captain for the UCLA Logistics subteam. Lingard said he wanted to give back to LLS after the organization helped him when he was diagnosed with cancer in 2012. He said he is grateful to carry a white lantern to symbolize his fight against cancer.
“There are not going to be many white lanterns, unfortunately, which is a bigger reason to walk – to increase the number of white lanterns in future walks,” he said.
Lingard said he thinks cancer research is important because it can lead to better treatments than he experienced. He said the veins in his arms are damaged and his digestive system has been affected by chemotherapy. He added he knows other individuals who have worse side effects.
“When you reach out and talk to people you realize there are a lot of (them) out there suffering, personally or through friends and family,” he said.
Lingard added he wanted to use his experience to help other people and highlight LLS.
“LLS gave me hope. … Cancer can be a negative thing, people don’t know how to talk to you,” Lingard said. “I want to educate others, not to force it on them but to say, ‘Don’t make people more isolated when they have got an illness that could take away their life.’”
Ciempa, who participated in the event in 2014 and 2015, said the lantern lighting ceremony at sunset before the walk is emotionally stirring.
“From a staff perspective, it’s really rewarding,” she added. “We’ve helped (the teams) all year long, and it’s really inspirational to be able to witness this.”
Patrese Kirsch, a wellness manager at UCLA Health and overall UCLA Health team captain, said she loved that she got the opportunity to motivate people.
“In return, I get so inspired by them. … It makes me so emotional, because they’re doing all of this out of the kindness of their heart,” she said.
Spisso attributed the success of UCLA Health’s fundraising efforts to the volunteerism of nearly 800 employees, who have given their time and personal donations.
“We plan to always be a participant (in the walk) as long as employees want to,” Spisso said.
Jassmine Ahumada, an admissions clerk at UCLA Medical Center, Santa Monica, is captaining a subteam named after her son, Rey.
“This is something we want to do annually,” Ahumada said. “We want to make people aware so people know they’re not by themselves.”
Contributing reports from Simran Vatsa, Daily Bruin senior staff, and Sharon Zhen, Daily Bruin contributor.
