SCRANTON, Pa. -- The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society calls itself the world's largest voluntary health agency dedicated to blood cancer, and each year, the group holds fundraisers.
There's one in Scranton this weekend.
Light The Night is a walk and event sponsored by the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. All the money raised helps patients battling leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin's disease, and myeloma, all cancers of the blood.
It was right around that time last September when Tori Donahue of Dunmore would become part of a club she never wanted to join. Her son Luca, the oldest of her three children, was diagnosed with leukemia. What followed was a difficult year for their entire family.
"Luca, from the beginning of the entire process, was the strongest of us all. I feel like he handled it all better than we did. All of our strength, we got that from him," Tori said.
Tori met Newswatch 16 this week to help get the word out about the Light The Night event, which is happening Saturday at Nay Aug Park in Scranton, starting at 4:30 p.m.
She says the organization is doing great things when it comes to funding research about how to treat not only blood cancer in general, but specifically for pediatric cancers, and she's happy to support this weekend's walk.
"99% of people who walk this are survivors, family members, and friends and loved ones of survivors, or family members, friends, and loved ones of people who have lost their lives to a blood cancer."
Tori spoke with us at length about her family's story, about how her son Luca is doing, and about the importance of funding for all pediatric cancer research, not just for blood cancers.
We'll have more with her next week in the Healthwatch 16 report.