Light The Night Walk Returns to Cumming

On Saturday, Sept. 22, thousands of walkers will converge at the Cumming Fairgrounds for the second annual North Metro Light The Night Walk (LTN).

The walk, an event for the Georgia Chapter of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS), encourages teams of families, friends, and co-workers, along with local and national corporations to come together to raise funds for the health agency.

"So you are going to have folks from Siemens [a sponsor] walking right next to somebody who formed a team from a cul-de-sac rallying around a friend who has cancer," said Torri Westmoreland, a team captain and member of the executive committee for the North Metro Walk.

During Saturday's event, walkers will carry illuminated balloons - white for survivors, red for supporters and gold in memory of loved ones lost to cancer -- forming a community of caring, bringing light to the dark world of cancer.

Westmoreland says about 85 teams are expected to walk, each team having as many as 300 members to one or two. The goal is to raise more than $200,000 for LLS.

Last year the North Metro teams had a total of 3,500 walkers and raised $250,000.

But for Westmoreland the whole point of being in the walk is to give back. She and her husband, John, a cancer survivor, formed a team a couple of years ago that included a few friends, family members and business partners. Today she says their team called, Stick it to Cancer, has grown and has attracted others in the community to form their own teams.

The Stick it to Cancer team goal is to raise $104,000.

"The reason we chose that unique number is that $104,000 will fund two years of cancer research," she said. "It's a $1,000 a week to fund a researcher who is looking for a cure."

If you're going: registration and festivities begin at 5 p.m. A 'Remembrance Ceremony' will be held in the covered Pavilion at 6 p.m. where family and friends will remember their lost loved ones. Then at 7 p.m. a walk program followed by the kickoff to the walk at 7:30 p.m.

The walk, about two miles, is done at a leisurely pace through downtown Cumming. Strollers, wheelchairs and pets on leashes are welcome too, but pet owners are urged to clean up after them. 

For more information visit the North Metro LTN website.

You might also be interested in reading:

Second Annual North Metro Light The Night Walk

Walkers Light the Night in Cumming

Light the Night Headed to Cumming Fairgrounds

Will you be participating in Saturday's walk?