Join More than 12,000 Schools Teaching the Value of Community Service through School & Youth Programs; New Web Site Makes Registration Easy

Leukemia and Lymphoma Society
Wednesday, 30 July 2003

In the 2002-2003 school year, 6 million students from more than 12,000 schools across the United States participated in The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's School & YouthSM Programs, raising $10.5 million to find cures for leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma. The need is critical: more than 670,000 Americans are battling blood cancers, and leukemia remains the leading cause of disease-related death among children under 15.

To make it easier for schools to join School & Youth, the Society launched a new Web site, www.SchoolandYouth.org

"The School & Youth Web site is a fast and easy way to bring our popular community service programs to classrooms," said Dwayne Howell, President and CEO, the Society. "We encourage teachers, parents and school administrators to log onto SchoolandYouth.org and create a community of caring in their schools."

School & Youth Programs have raised more than $55 million for the Society since 1994. The efforts by school children directly impact the Society's ability to provide crucial support to patients and their families and fund leading-edge research to find blood cancer cures. School & Youth is the third-largest fundraiser for the Society.

"The success of these programs illustrates to young people that every person can make a difference," Howell added.

School & Youth Programs include:

• Pennies for Patients®
  Students across the country collect pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters to benefit the Society. The class that collects the most money in each school receives a pizza party, and top schools in each area receives prizes such as computers, electronics and sports equipment.
• Pasta for Pennies (sponsored by Olive Garden Italian Restaurants, select markets)
  Conducted in the same fashion as the Pennies for Patients campaign, Pasta for Pennies classrooms that collect the most money at each school receive a Hospitaliano Pasta Party lunch, courtesy of Olive Garden. Top schools receive prizes such as computers, electronics and sports equipment. In addition to providing the pasta parties, Olive Garden hosts kickoff luncheons for representatives of participating schools in each city.
• HOP for Leukemia & Lymphoma^SM (select markets)
  Pre-school and early elementary school children collect donations for each time they hop in a period of two minutes. Participants win prizes such as ice cream and pizza parties.
• The Trish Greene Back to School Program for Children with Cancer
  The Trish Greene program helps integrate children back into the classroom after undergoing cancer treatment. The program fosters communication among healthcare professionals, parents, young patients and school personnel with the help of videos and informational materials.

About The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society

The Leukemia & Lymphoma 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 Leukemia & Lymphoma 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. EST.

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