Verizon Employees Raised More Than $480,000 Through Light The Night Walk; Funds Support Leading-Edge Blood Cancer Researcher

Leukemia and Lymphoma Society
Monday, 21 July 2003

One step at a time, Verizon employees are directly and positively impacting the lives of patients with leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma. More than 2,000 employees in 100 communities around the nation took part in The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's Light The Night® Walk last year, raising more than $480,000, money that supports the work of leading-edge blood cancer researcher Maria Baer, M.D., of Roswell Cancer Institute, in Buffalo, NY.

The Society awarded Dr. Baer a grant through its Translational Research Program to investigate how new medicines can increase the effectiveness of existing cancer drugs by inhibiting the ATP-binding cassette protein. Her work focuses on acute myelogenous leukemia (AML), a devastating form of blood cancer that claims the lives of four in five adults with the disease. AML is the most common type of leukemia in adults.

"Dr. Baer is an outstanding researcher whose work holds promise for patients with acute myelogenous leukemia," says Alan Kinniburgh, Ph.D., the Society's Vice President of Research Administration. "We greatly appreciate the support of Verizon's employees, who help us realize our mission of curing blood cancer."

Light The Night is the Society's annual fall event held in communities throughout the United States to raise money for blood cancer research and patient services. Teams of co-workers, families and friends walk together in twilight, holding illuminated balloons - white for survivors and red for supporters. The Walk commemorates lives touched by blood cancer.

In a display of true dedication, Verizon employees are gearing up to walk again this year. "We are enormously proud of Verizon's employees," says Anthony Buffone, National Director of Light The Night. "They are a compassionate and motivated group of people who demonstrate how much good can be accomplished when individuals come together for an important cause."

Verizon Foundation matches the contributions raised by teams of 10 or more Verizon employees who participate in the event. Each team of employees can receive up to $25,000 in matching gifts from the Foundation.

About The Translational Research Program

The Society is the leading sponsor of blood cancer research, driven by its mission to find cures for leukemia, Hodgkin and non-Hodgkin lymphoma and myeloma. Since its founding in 1949, the Society has provided more than $358 million for research specifically targeting blood cancers, including more than $110 million from 2001 to 2003.

The Society established the Translational Research Program to encourage and support novel clinical research. The program's goal is to accelerate the transfer of findings from the laboratory to clinical application. The program funds research that shows strong promise for translating basic biomedical knowledge to prevention or new treatments that will ultimately prolong and enhance patients' lives.

About Acute Myelogenous Leukemia

Leukemia is a malignant cancer of the bone marrow and blood, characterized by the uncontrolled accumulation of blood cells. Acute leukemia is a rapidly progressing leukemia that results in the accumulation of immature, functionless cells in the marrow and blood. The marrow often can no longer produce enough normal red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets. Anemia, a deficiency of red cells, develops in virtually all leukemia patients. The lack of normal white cells impairs the body's ability to fight infections. A shortage of platelets results in bruising and easy bleeding.

AML is the most common type of leukemia in adults, with an estimated 10,500 new cases each year in the United States. From 1992 to 1999, the five-year relative survival rates for AML were 18.7 percent overall and 46 percent for children.

About The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society

The Society, headquartered in White Plains, NY, is the world's largest voluntary health organization dedicated to funding blood cancer research and providing education and patient services. The Society's mission is to cure leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin's disease and myeloma, and to improve the quality of life of patients and their families. Since its founding in 1949, the Society has provided more than $358 million for research specifically targeting blood cancers.

For more information, visit 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 specialists are available at (800) 955-4572, Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Eastern time.

About Verizon Foundation

Verizon Foundation last year awarded 22,000 grants, totaling more than $70 million to nonprofit agencies that focus on improving basic and computer literacy, enriching communities through technology and creating a skilled work force. The foundation uses its resources in the United States and abroad to develop partnerships in technology and connects them with organizations serving the needs of diverse communities, people with disabilities, victims of domestic violence and the economically and socially disadvantaged. The foundation also supports Verizon Volunteers, an incentive program that last year encouraged Verizon employees to volunteer more than 500,000 hours in their communities and provided $27.8 million in matching gifts to nonprofit organizations. For more information on the foundation, visit www.verizon.com/foundation.

For more information, or to contact Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, see their website at: www.leukemia.org