The Orange County Inland Empire

The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society History

The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's (LLS's) roots stretch back to 1949, when the de Villiers family experienced the devastation of leukemia with the death of their 16-year-old son, Robert Roesler de Villiers. Family members and friends declared war on the disease by creating The Robert Roesler de Villiers Foundation, funding research to find a cure. The foundation later became The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. LLS is the world's largest voluntary health organization dedicated to funding blood cancer research and providing education and patient services.  We are relentless in pursuit of our mission: To cure leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin's disease and myeloma, and improve the quality of life of patients and their families.

Team In Training^® History
Team In Training (TNT) began in 1988, when Bruce Cleland of Rye, NY formed a team that raised funds and trained to run the New York City Marathon in honor of Cleland's daughter Georgia, a leukemia survivor.

The team of 38 runners raised $322,000 for LLS's Westchester/Hudson Valley Chapter.  Because of the pioneering efforts of Cleland and the Westchester/Hudson Valley Chapter, Team In Training was born and has grown into the world's largest endurance sports training program.  Cleland was honored by Runner's World magazine in 2004 as one of their "Heroes of Running" for his role in establishing TNT. 

Since its inception in 1988, over 420,000 Team In Training participants have raised more than $1 billion to support the ongoing work of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society

The need is critical:

·         An estimated 912,938 Americans have leukemia, Hodgkin or non-Hodgkin lymphoma or myeloma.  Every four minutes, someone new is diagnosed with blood cancer.  Every 10 minutes, someone loses their battle.

·         Leukemia causes more deaths than any other cancer among children and young adults under the age of 20.  Lymphomas are the most common blood cancers and incidence increases with age.  The survival rate for myeloma is only 37 percent.  Incidence is twice as high among African Americans as for all other races.

·         An estimated 139,860 people in the United States will be diagnosed with leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma in 2009.

With 68 chapters nationwide, The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society is one of the fastest growing and highest-rated non-profit health agencies in America, delivering services, which include research, patient services, advocacy, education and direct patient aid.

Investing in blood cancer research: The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) has invested more than $600 million in research. Research funded by LLS has led or contributed to advances such as chemotherapy, bone marrow and stem cell transplantation and the drug Gleevec.

Providing critical information and support for patients and their families:  We have made more than 6.3 million contacts through our Information Resource Center (IRC), our award winning website and community-based patient service programs.  We are also proud to be the only voluntary health organization that offers insurance co-pay assistance to our patients.

Advocating for issues impacting blood cancer patients: With more than 43,000 advocacy volunteers throughout the country, our voice is being heard by those responsible for legislation to fund blood cancer research and educational programs.  We have successfully lobbied for additional funding, resulting in $30 million for blood cancer research and $27 million for patient education and support programs.

As a nonprofit, we rely on the generosity of individuals, corporations and foundations.  Seventy-five percent of our total expenses support cancer research, education, advocacy and patient services. 

Join the more than 40,000 runners, walkers, cyclists, hikers and triathletes who will participate in the world's major marathons, triathlons, hiking adventures and century rides this year on behalf of LLS. Fill out our online Tell Me More form for more details.