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My name is Deena Alansky, and I lost my big brother to leukemia on February 18, 2004. He was only 45 years old and was my only sibling. That was the saddest day of my life, as you can imagine. But, out of my grief has grown an overwhelming desire to help other patients and families stricken with leukemia and other blood-related cancers. I have been involved with the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society ever since.
In December 2003, I organized my first fundraiser (a benefit concert) on behalf of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS). Over the years, I've been a volunteer and a participant for the Light the Night Walks, persuaded my running club to donate the proceeds from its annual Red Dress Run to the LLS, and created the web site (and update it each year) for the annual Charity Bar Crawl, which also raises money for the LLS via Team in Training. |
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1977, Rand in the Air Force |
I dedicate my nomination in Loving Memory of my brother, Rand E. Alansky, who lost his battle with leukemia in 2004. He was one of the kindest people I ever had the privilege of knowing in my lifetime, and he never had a negative word to say about anyone. He was a loving and caring person, and I miss him every day. After he died, I learned that he had saved every letter I ever wrote to him when he was in the Air Force and even after that, throughout his life. I know my letters must have meant a lot to him--for him to have kept them all those years. We argued like brother and sister, and we loved each other as only a brother and sister can, through thick and thin. You can read about my brother's battle with leukemia at: www.learnaboutleukemia.org.
After my brother fell out of remission, a bone marrow transplant was his last hope for survival. I was tested, and my tissue type was not a match. And not ONE person in the entire world-wide marrow registry was a match, either! This has inspired me to become an outspoken advocate for the Marrow Registry. You can join the Marrow Registry for FREE at: www.dkmsamericas.org. The test to join is just a cheek swab. Register online, and you'll receive the cheek swab testing kit in the mail. It's FREE and it's never been EASIER to join. If someday you're ever found to be a match, you might truly help save a life. You can also join for free in the Pittsburgh area through the Central Blood Bank. Visit their web site at: www.centralbloodbank.org or call: 800-310-9551 to schedule an appointment. Please consider also donating blood while you're there!
Related Links:
Super-Cool YouTube Videos for the Marrow Registry
Visit Deena's Web Site for the Marrow Registry |
May 2003,
Shadyside Hospital |
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I was honored to be a candidate in the "2010 Man and Woman of the Year Campaign" to benefit the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society! This was a 10-week friendly competition among Western Pennsylvania area community & professional leaders to raise vital funds for LLS. The man and woman who raised the most funds between March 10, 2010 through May 19, 2010 were declared the winners! I cam in second place with $8,476.51.
The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Man & Woman of the Year Campaign began in Northern California in 1990. In 2009 the campaign was launched nationally. The Pittsburgh Area’s 2010 Man & Woman of the Year campaign is expected to raise $157,000 to fund LLS’s mission to cure leukemia, lymphoma, myeloma, and improve the quality of life for patients and their families. |
My personal goals for the campaign were to shine a light on the great work being done by the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society and to raise awareness for the National Bone Marrow Registry. Donations to the LLS help fund research to find a cure for leukemia, lymphoma and other blood-related cancers, while also providing valuable services to patients and their families.
Sponsors, candidates, campaign teams, friends, family, survivors, and other LLS supporters gathered for the announcement of the Man & Woman of the Year on May 21, 2010. The evening included cocktails, food, music, a reverse raffle to win a Mercedes-Benz and a silent auction. Attendance was around 500-600. |
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The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society® (LLS) is the world's largest voluntary health organization dedicated to funding blood cancer research, education and patient services. LLS's mission is to cure leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin's disease and myeloma, and improve the quality of life of patients and their families. Since the first funding in 1954, LLS has awarded more than $680 million in research funding. The LLS is currently funding four researchers in the Pittsburgh area!
I volunteer with a Pittsburgh-based nonprofit group called Amy's Army, named after a Pittsburgh girl who was first diagnosed with leukemia in 2003 at the age of 10. Just like my brother, there was no matching donor for Amy in her family or in the marrow registry. Amy's Army was formed to organize marrow screening drives in the hopes of finding a matching marrow donor (stem cell donor) for Amy, while helping others by enlarging the ranks of the marrow registry. Amy's Army has added over 10,000 volunteers to the marrow registry and found matches for 25 patients in need, but there is still no matching marrow donor for Amy.
So, why mention Amy on this web site? Because, although there is currently no matching donor for the now 17-year-old Amy, she remains in remission and is doing phenomenally well because of a relatively new "designer" chemotherapy drug that she takes every day called GLEEVEC. Gleevec was developed with research funds from the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society! I have seen right before my very eyes how a beautiful young lady has grown up, and is alive and well today because of generous donors like YOU!
Without donations, there would be no money for researchers to create cutting-edge new chemotherapy drugs, like Gleevec. And, as you can imagine, federal money for blood cancer research has been dramatically slashed in the government's budget for the past few years, so support from donors is even more crucial now, than ever before. |
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For additional TNT information,
contact the Western PA / West Virginia Chapter of
The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society at: 1-800-726-CURE (2873) or 412-395-2873.
www.leukemia-lymphoma.org |
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Deena's Friends for a Cure Supports the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society!
In 2011, we support Don Splitstone's Fundraising Campaign for the LLS.
Don's mother is a leukemia survivor, who received a bone marrow transplant 10 years ago!
Support the LLS so that more patients will have success stories--like Don's mom!
http://pages.teamintraining.org/wpa/moabtour11/Don_splitstone
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