About Deena · My Brother Rand · Leukemia & Lymphoma Society
Team in Training · 2010 Man & Woman of the Year · Deena's Friends for a Cure |
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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 website (and update it each year) for the annual Charity Bar Crawl, which also raises money for the LLS via Team in Training. |
In Spring of 2012, I decided to organize a series of FIVE FUNDRAISING EVENTS to benefit the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society via Team in Training. I was inspired by two friends, Doug Belkofer and Don Splitstone, who are both participating in Team in Training this year. Don has been an active participant for over a decade, but Doug is brand new to Team and Training, and is currently training for his first triathlon! We wish Doug and Don the best of luck with their events and their fundraising efforts.
I will be donating the proceeds from my five fundraisers to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society through my friends' Team in Training pages. I plan to split the funds 50/50 between my two friends' TNT campaign pages to help them reach their personal fundraising goals. If you are unable to attend of my events, please consider making a tax-deductible donation online. Thanks for your support.
Doug Belkofer's Team in Training Page
http:// pages.teamintraining.org/ vtnt/kingtri12/dougbelkofer
Don Splitstone's Team in Training Page
http://pages.teamintraining.org/wpa/ambbr12/DSplitstone |
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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, since he 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.
Related Links:
Super-Cool YouTube Videos for the Marrow Registry
Visit Deena's Web Site for the Marrow Registry |
| 1977, Rand in the Air Force |
May '03,
Shadyside Hospital |
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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! www.lls.org
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 19-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. Thank you for your support.
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2012: The proceeds from the FIVE FUNDRAISING EVENTS that I'm currently planning for April & May of 2012, in addition to funds raised from the 9th Annual "Fill the Mug" Charity Bar Crawl, crawl will benefit the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society through Team in
Training (TNT). Team in Training is a fundraising program offered
by Leukemia and Lymphoma Society that helps train people to run or walk
a full or half marathon, cycle a century ride, or complete
a triathlon. In exchange for free trainers provided by the LLS, (who also happen to be volunteers), TNT participants pledge to raise thousands of dollars for the LLS while training for their athletic events. For additional TNT information, contact
the Western PA/West Virginia Chapter of The Leukemia
& Lymphoma Society at 1-800-726-2873 or 412-395-2873. www.teamintraining.org. |
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IN 2012, DEENA'S FRIENDS FOR A CURE
SUPPORTS TEAM IN TRAINING!
Don Splitstone's Team in Training Page:
http://pages.teamintraining.org/wpa/ambbr12/DSplitstone |
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I was honored to have been a candidate in the "2010 Man and Woman of the Year Campaign" to benefit the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society! The contest was a 10-week friendly competition among Western Pennsylvania community & professional leaders to see who could raise the most funds from March 10, 2010 through May 19, 2010. I came in second place, having raised a grand total of $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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What exactly is "Deena's Friends for a Cure" anyway? In 2010 when I was a candidate in the 2010 Man & Woman of the Year Campaign, I was told by the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society that I should create a TEAM NAME to describe my dedicated team of volunteers who had signed up to help me during the 10-week contest. At a brainstorming meeting at Panera bread in Oakland, a month before the contest started, I wanted to call the team, "Friends for a Cure." But, my friends convinced me that I should put my name in the team name to identify it clearly for fundraising purposes. I protested for a while, but eventually their logic overruled my initial reservations, and a new team name was born!
Once we had decided on a team name, I decided that I should create a website to promote the campaign, provide details on upcoming events, and promote awareness for the National Bone Marrow Registry. The website also turned into a means for me to share my personal journey with you on how I became involved with the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society and Team in Training.
Today, in 2012, the Deena's Friends for a Cure website is once again helping me to tell my story and inform the public about my upcoming Spring fundraisers happening in April & May of 2012. I invite you to visit the Events page to view details for all FIVE upcoming fundraisers that I'm personally organizing, in addition to information on the Charity Bar Crawl, being organized by Donald Splitstone and Matt Graver. As always, many thanks for your continued support.
Deena Alansky, 2012 Volunteer Fundraiser & Event Planner
Organizing Events to Benefit the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society Deena's Friends for a Cure Facebook Fan Page
Email:
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