Golfers Fight Against Cancer: Tournament Raises Funds For Leukemia and Lymphoma Research

The Students Against Leukemia and Lymphoma (SALL) organization will host its annual golf tournament at Fairfax National Golf Club in Centreville on Monday, May 17, beginning at 7 a.m. Over 70 people are expected to attend.

SALL is a nonstock corporation founded by George Mason University foreign languages major James Nance. Nance hopes to spread SALL to other universities in the D.C. metro area. The drive behind his dedication to charity is simple.

“If I didn’t, no one else would,” Nance says. “I didn’t want to go through college not having done anything to give back to the community or better, the world around me.”

All the proceeds from the tournament will be donated to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) to support cancer research.

In addition to conducting research, the LLS also teaches newly diagnosed patients how to work effectively with their doctors, provides prescription drug assistance, connects patients with financial resources and provides many other vital services.

But the tournament is not only about good will.

“Aside from the fact that 100 percent of the profits will be donated to charity and finding a cure for cancer,” says Nance, “the following are included: continental breakfast, barbeque lunch, green fees, golf cart, 18 holes of golf, on-course drinks, prizes, awards and many giveaways. The tournament will be a relaxing day of golf and fun.”

Golfers can register for the tournament and view the golf course on SALL’s website, www.studentsagainstleukemia.org.

The price of registration is $125 per golfer.

Leukemia is a blood cancer that forms in bone marrow. According to LLS’s website, “People can get leukemia at any age. In 2008, about . . . 44,270 adults and 4,220 children [were] expected to develop leukemia. It is most common in people over age 60.”

Lymphoma is a cancer that forms on the lymph nodes in the body. ABC News’ website explains, “Lymph nodes are filtering stations along the chain of lymph drainage fluid.

Lymph drainage fluid drains the excess fluid from all parts of our body; the best example people are aware of lymph nodes is when they get . . . strep throat and get swollen glands in their neck. Those glands are really lymph nodes responding to the infection in the throat.”

LLS’s website estimates that “In 2009, about 601,180 people [were] living with lymphoma or are in remission. This number includes about 148,460 people with Hodgkin lymphoma and about 452,720 people with non-Hodgkin lymphoma.”

The money raised at SALL’s annual golf tournament is sure to help many people.

But if you miss the tournament, you still have more opportunities to help. SALL is currently planning a charity bowling tournament for this fall.