A local family is spearheading the first-ever Light the Night walk in Westlock to raise awareness about leukemia and lymphoma on Oct. 3, and hope others will join them.
Joanne Rimmer said after taking part in a Light the Night walk in Edmonton for several years following the death of her 19-year-old niece, she’s happy the organization is now encouraging groups to walk closer to home.
“This year they came up with this new thing, Light the Night in a Box,” she said. “We just have to register and they give us everything we need, which is basically just lanterns and T-shirts, to walk in Westlock.”
The walk begins at 8 p.m., leaving the Westlock Rotary Spirit Centre along the Rotary Trail towards the hospital to the swimming pool and back again.
For Rimmer, it’s all about honouring the memory of her niece, Mya Boutin, who died in 2008 following a five-month battle with leukemia.
“It’s really hard when little kids have leukemia, and it’s really hard when anybody has it, but she had just graduated high school and had started college,” Rimmer said. “Her whole future was right there in front of her.”
The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of Canada has been organizing Light the Night Walks in major cities across the country for many years. The money raised from the event goes to support research into treatment for blood cancers and to support patients.
Blood cancers aren’t the most prevalent form of cancer, but nonetheless have a significant impact with close to 19,000 new cases in Canada each year, according to the society website. Furthermore, blood cancers are among the most common childhood cancers, accounting for roughly half of all cancer diagnoses in children up to the age of 14.
Localizing the walks is a new idea this year. For Rimmer, who will walk with her grandchildren Abbie, Zachary and Alexander McCormick, it’s a way to be able to participate without the added stress of loading the kids of for a nighttime drive into Edmonton.
And, of course, others can sign up and raise money as well, or just show their support by walking.
“We’d like them to (fundraise), but we’re pushing the time limit now to get their lanterns for them,” she said. “We wouldn’t turn anybody away. Anybody who wants to walk would be more than welcome.”
To donate to the cause, learn more or get involved, search for “For Miss Mya” at www.lightthenight.ca.
