Lakewoodian And Cancer Survivor "Sings" For Blood Cancer Cures
CLEVELAND – Lakewoodian Charmaine J. Davis of AIIA Entertainment hosts the 1st Annual “Singing for Survivors” karaoke fundraiser, Wednesday, September 8, 2010 at Around the Corner Café, 18616-20 Detroit Avenue in Lakewood. The event will be held from 6:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. in the restaurant’s warehouse room. $5.00 donations will be accepted to participate in karaoke, with a 50/50 raffle drawing taking place at the end of the event, based on audience votes of their favorite participant. There will also be 2 for $1 raffle tickets sold for special prize drawings throughout the evening. The more participation, the bigger the pot grows – the better you perform, the more chances you have to win the top prize! One winner will be randomly selected through the raffle to take half the pot, with the other half’s proceeds to go directly towards the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s annual Light the Night Walk (LTN) campaign.
Around the Corner Café will have a $5.00 food menu and $2.25 Pabst Blue Ribbon beer throughout the evening. Karaoke music and services provided by Karen and Ron of Karaoke Korner of Elyria. The event is sponsored by AIIA (pronounced A-Two-A) Entertainment, Avon, Cleveland Improv Comedy Club and Restaurant, Garland Williams Photography – Toledo, K. Vaughn Designs – Philadephia, Radio One Cleveland, The Cleveland Cavaliers, The Cleveland Indians, and Walmart.
A Stage IIIA Hodgkin’s disease survivor, Charmaine aims to raise at least $500 as an individual LTN walk participant and at least $2,000 along with her team, “Faith Without Limits,” to enable LLS efforts to cure blood cancers (leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin’s disease and myeloma). She has been an active member of the LLS Northern Ohio Chapter (which includes the Toledo, Cleveland and Akron areas) since June 2009.
“To celebrate my company’s [AIIA Entertainment] one year anniversary, I chose to do a karaoke fundraiser because of my love and passion of singing. To express yourself creatively encourages others to do the same – in this way, we help each other grow and to be better people! It also looks to raise awareness to further this organization’s work to fund research to help find cures for blood cancers. I feel blessed to have the opportunity to give back to the organization that helped me fight the good fight and beat my Hodgkin’s two years ago!”
Sheri Kellner, Light the Night Campaign Manager for LLS’s Northern Ohio chapter, believes that events like this are great for the community in bringing greater awareness about blood cancers and how to help find cures. “Charmaine is an inspiration to us at LLS, giving back to her community. We appreciate her using her talents to raise money for such a great cause!”
The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (LLS) is the world’s largest voluntary health organization dedicated to funding blood cancer research and providing education and patient services. Founded in 1949, LLS is relentless in pursuit of their mission: Cure leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin’s disease and myeloma, and improve the quality of life of patients and their families.
An estimated 912,938 people in the United States are living with, or are in remission from, leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin’s disease and myeloma. Every four minutes, someone new is diagnosed with blood cancer. Every 10 minutes, someone dies.
Leukemia causes more deaths than any other cancer among children under the age of 20. Lymphomas are the most common blood cancers and incidence increases with age. The survival rate for myeloma is only 37.1 percent. Incidence is nearly twice as high among African-Americans as for all other races.
The Light the Night Walk is LLS’s annual fundraising walk and the nation’s night to pay tribute and bring hope to people battling cancer. In 2009, the walk raised more than $39 million nationally for research and patient services.
This event will be fun for everyone! If you have any questions about the event, please contact Charmaine J. Davis at (216) 370-7855 or charmaine@AIIAEnt.com. If you cannot make the event and would like to donate to Charmaine’s team, log on to http://pages.lightthenight.org/noh/Clevelnd10/CDavis to make a secured payment.
For more information on LLS, contact Sheri Kellner at (216) 910-1217 or visit www.lls.org/noh. Register your LTN Walk team today at www.lightthenight.org/noh.