TORONTO, June 19, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- 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).

(l-r) Ted Moroz, President, The Beer Store; Wayne Hanley, President, Local 1006A; Alicia Talarico, President, LLSC; Paul Meinema, National President, UFCW Canada; Kelly Tosato, Secretary-Treasurer, Local 175; Jeff Traeger, President, Local 832; Jim McLean, Local 175; Barry Sawyer, National Office; Karen Vaughn, Recorder, Local 175; Shawn Haggerty, President, Local 175; John Nock, President, Local 12R24; Suzanne Hodge, President Local 247; Derek Johnstone, National Office; Tim Hosford, National Office; Anouk Collet, National Office Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of Canada (LLSC) LOGO

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.

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. “Their 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).

About The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society of Canada

The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society of Canada is the single largest voluntary health agency dedicated to blood cancers in Canada. LLSC funds life-saving blood cancer research across the country and provides free information and support services to patients and caregivers. Our mission is to cure leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin's disease and myeloma, and improve the quality of life of patients and their families. To find out more visit llscanada.org. For personalized disease, treatment or support information, patients can contact our local support staff at 1-833-222-4884. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

About UFCW Canada

As Canada's leading union for retail and food workers, the United Food and Commercial Workers Union (UFCW Canada) represents over 250,000 workers across the country working in the food retail and processing, agriculture, health care, security, and hospitality industries, as well as other sectors of the economy. UFCW Canada is the country's most innovative organization dedicated to building fairness in workplaces and communities. Since 1985, UFCW Canada members and Local Unions have also fundraised over $43.7 million in support of the life-changing work of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society of Canada. To find out more about UFCW Canada, visit www.ufcw.ca.

CONTACT:

Michael Forman, Communications Director
UFCW Canada
mforman@ufcw.ca.
(416) 675-1104, extension 2249
www.ufcw.ca


Maja Begovic, Director, Marketing Communications
The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society of Canada
Maja.begovic@lls.org
416-731-9338
www.llscanada.org

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/69508089-c54d-4baf-85ae-a25fc9c8abe3