$2.37 million raised this year as UFCW Canada lifetime fundraising for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society of Canada now tops $43.7 million

Toronto – June 13, 2019 – After another tremendous fundraising season that topped $2.3 million, the UFCW Canada union family of members, activists and Local Unions have altogether raised over $43.7 million over the past three decades for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society of Canada (LLSC).

At a special event in Toronto, UFCW Canada National President Paul Meinema presented a donation of $2,370,788.72 to LLSC President Alicia Talarico, on behalf of the combined 2018-19 fundraising efforts of UFCW Canada members and Local Unions from across the country. The money raised goes toward supporting research, raising awareness of leukemia, lymphoma, and other blood cancers, and supporting patients, survivors and their families through key programs and services.

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At the Toronto presentation, LLSC President Alicia Talarico also announced that Dr. Aly Karsan of the Michael Smith Genome Science Centre in Vancouver Centre was selected as the 2019 recipient of the UFCW Canada Award for Leukemia Research. This annual grant goes to the LLSC’s top scoring operating research grant applicant.

 “As a union family, we are grateful UFCW members and Local Unions have made such a positive impact on research, better treatments and outcomes for blood cancer patients and their families,” said National President Meinema. “There is more to do and united together we will keep on going until blood cancers are a thing of the past.”

Every year, UFCW Canada members, Local Unions, and allies organize and participate in numerous fundraising activities such as raffles, community picnics, 50-50 draws, car washes, sports tournaments, ride-a-thons, marathons, relays, and Light The Night walks to raise money for the fight against blood cancers. The Returns for Leukemia Bottle Drive is another pillar of the overall fundraising effort, through an Ontario-wide co-operative fundraiser between UFCW members and The Beer Store that converts deposits on bottles into donations to the LLSC. This season, the campaign contributed an incredible $1,650,012.24 to the overall campaign.

“We are deeply grateful to the UFCW Canada family of members and Local Unions across the country,” says LLSC President Alicia Talarico. “Your tremendous compassion and fundraising efforts have changed lives, and continue to lead to safer, more personalized and effective treatments for the 138,000 Canadians affected by a blood cancer.”

UFCW Canada members and Local Unions adopted the LLSC as their charity of choice in 1985.
The latest fundraising year once again reaffirmed the UFCW Canada family as Canada’s largest annual fundraising organization supporting the life-changing work of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society of Canada (LLSC).

Thank you to UFCW Canada members and Local Unions