Light The Night Walk Set In WinonaWINONA LAKE - The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's annual Light The Night Walk is Sept. 23 in Winona Lake.
Registration begins at 5 p.m. at Rodeheaver Auditorium. There will be entertainment and free refreshments before the program begins at 7 p.m.
The one-mile walk will begin at 7:20 p.m. after the brief program.
Dane Miller and Steve Miller are this year's corporate walk chairs.
The walk raises funds for blood cancer research for leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin's disease and myeloma.
Attendees raise funds for blood cancer research prior to the walk. On the evening of the walk, participants walk along a one- to two-mile route carrying illuminated balloons - white for survivors, red for supporters and gold for individuals or teams walking in memory of someone.
Rachel Doyle, 6, and Vanessa Barber, 33, are this year's walk honorees.
Doyle is the daughter of Tony and Faith Doyle, Warsaw. She is a first-grader at Harrison Elementary School.
She was diagnosed Dec. 1, 2006, with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, and spent six days at Riley Hospital for Children.
During the 26-month treatment she made weekly and monthly trips to the Riley Outpatient Cancer Treatment Center.
During her treatments, she was hospitalized twice with pneumonia.
Since February 2009, she has been in remission, and will have blood tests and exams for the next five years to monitor her and make sure the leukemia doesn't return.
Since the diagnosis of leukemia, she had had to learn how to walk again due to the medications that made her weak.
Doyle enjoys swimming, riding bikes, playing with her brother and sister and sewing with her grandma.
Barber was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma last year, and has been in remission since June.
Her friends and family team was the top fundraising team last year for the walk.
Barber, who is employed at Lake City Bank, has a husband, Josh, and two sons, Jarod and Tyler.
There are currently 15 teams pre-registered, and the goal is to register at least 15 additional teams.
People interested in participating in the walk can visit lightthenight.org or call Elise Martin at 260-435-2525.
