• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society Helping Cancer Patients in Hurricane-Stricken Areas

Posted on: Tuesday, 6 September 2005, 18:01 CDT

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y., Sept. 6 /PRNewswire/ -- The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society has announced several initiatives to help address the long- and short-term needs of blood cancer patients in areas affected by Hurricane Katrina. These initiatives will help ensure that cancer patients in these areas will continue to receive the vital healthcare services they need during this crisis and beyond.

The many thousands of cancer patients in the Gulf Coast region who have been displaced by Hurricane Katrina may have trouble over the coming weeks getting access to the cancer treatment they need. To ensure that these patients, many of whom are in need of acute care, do not have their treatments interrupted, the Society is reaching out to treatment facilities in the surrounding region to find out which ones are able to help displaced patients from the evacuated areas. Patients are urged to contact the Society's Information Resource Center (IRC) at 1(800) 955-4572 to receive referrals to treatment facilities in the areas to which they have relocated. Specialists in the IRC can also answer questions about patients' eligibility for financial aid offered by the Society.

In order to help meet the critical need to restore health care to the communities ravaged by the hurricane, the Society will commit $1 million to help get blood cancer treatment centers and patient support services in the devastated areas up and running again. The organization will carry out this commitment through two of its major fundraising campaigns: a half million dollars from the 2005 Light The Night(R)Walk and a half million dollars from this year's School & Youth(SM) Programs.

The Society will also provide support to overburdened cancer centers in Texas that are caring for patients displaced by the hurricane. Light The Night 2005 campaigns in Society chapters in Texas will designate 30 cents of every dollar raised to support local treatment centers.

Light The Night Walk is the Society's annual fundraising walk, which takes place in the fall in communities throughout the United States and Canada, to celebrate and commemorate people who have been touched by cancer. School & Youth Programs are designed to help students learn the value of community services while raising funds to support the Society's mission to cure leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma and improve the quality of life of patients and their families.

About The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society

The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society(R), headquartered in White Plains, NY, with 66 chapters in the United States and Canada, is the world's largest voluntary health organization dedicated to funding blood cancer research and providing education and patient services. The Society's mission: Cure leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin's disease and myeloma, and improve the quality of life of patients and their families. Since its founding in 1949, the Society has invested more than $424 million in research specifically targeting leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma. Last year alone, the Society made 2.5 million contacts with patients, caregivers and healthcare professionals.

For more information about blood cancer, visit http://www.lls.org/ or call the Society's Information Resource Center (IRC), a call center staffed by master's level social workers, nurses and health educators who provide information, support and resources to patients and their families and caregivers. IRC information specialists are available at (800) 955-4572, Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. ET.

The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society

CONTACT: Nancy L. Klein of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society,+1-914-821-8812

Web site: http://www.lls.org/

Source: PRNewswire

More News in this Category