Local Organizers Plan Light The Night Walk For Leukemia 

Ginny Chion and Beth Montoya are asking Newtown residents to join them in the Light the Night Walk 2003 to raise funds for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society of Fairfield County and to raise awareness of the disease that is the number one killer of children.

 Light The Night is a two-mile twilight walk held nationwide in September and October to celebrate and commemorate lives touched by cancer. Participants carry specially illuminated balloons –– white for cancer survivors and red for their supporters, families, and friends.

This year’s walk at the Penfield Pavilion I in Fairfield will be held on October 3.

Light The Night’s goal is to pay tribute to survivors of all forms of cancer and to raise funds to cure leukemia, lymphoma, myeloma, and Hodgkin’s disease and improve the quality of life for patients and their families. More than 617,000 Americans have these blood-borne cancers. Every nine minutes, one of them dies.

Beth Montoya’s daughter, Emily, who will be 5 in October, was diagnosed with leukemia three years ago and is in remission. Ginny Chion’s son, Greg, was a senior at Newtown High School when he died from the complications of leukemia several years ago.

“Our goal is to get Light The Night up here eventually,” Mrs Chion said. “Wouldn’t someplace like Fairfield Hills be a wonderful place to walk? ”

In the meantime, the women, who are local co-captains of Light The Night, are looking for people to participate in the walk in Fairfield this year. Light The Night participants include corporate, family and friend, school and university, and civic organization teams and individuals who walk in honor of those touched by cancer.

“Last year we had about 40 to 50 walkers,” Mrs Montoya said. “It’s a beautiful walk in early October on the Post Road and around to the beach.”

More than a walk, the evening includes music, food, and family activities.

Walk participants are encouraged to join the Newtown team or to start their own team. Participants will receive Light The Night T-shirts.

“If we know who is walking, we can pick up the T-shirts ahead of time so they will be available to wear during the walk,” Mrs Chion said.

Other prizes also are available for the top fundraisers. Walkers ask family, friends, and businesses to sponsor them through donations.

For more information about the Newtown Night Walkers call Beth Montoya at 270-8096 or Ginny Chion at 426-0851.

To register call 877-LTN-WALK (877-586-9255) or visit www.lightthenight.org.

This year the Light The Night corporate teams include Prudential Securities, GE Structured Finance, American Skandia, Gartner Group, MetaGroup, Dianon Systems, Kraft/AC Nielsen, and many others. Corporate chairman of the walk is Bob Lewis, president and chief executive officer of GE Structured Finance.

Light The Night sponsors include WABC-TV New York, News 12 CT, WEBE 108/WICC 600, WKTU FM, American Steakhouse, SoBe, Crown Theatres, GE Structured Finance, Westfield ShoppingTowns, and others.