Striving to Help Others

Striving to Help Others

Hi again! Here at Loyola, community, both on and off campus, is something that is super important. At Loyola each and every student comes to understand that by helping others, lives can be changed. In turn, your life as a student will be changed as well. It is always fun to go downtown and participate in an event that promotes a good cause. This past weekend, some friends and I from Loyola participated in the Light the Night Walk in downtown Chicago. This walk is a fundraising campaign for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. People walk to help find a cure for blood cancer.

Being at this walk was truly an emotional and touching experience. People from all over Illinois and even out of state came together to walk for a single cause. It was fascinating to see how so many people from so many backgrounds could all unite to fight blood cancer, to become a community. Each and every person who walks receives a lantern. There are three colors of lanterns. There is a red one for those who want to help in fighting the disease. There is a yellow one for those who have a personal connection to someone who has the disease or has passed away from the disease. Finally, there is a white one for the survivors. Before the walk started, each colored lantern was asked to be raised up and we took a time of silence to reflect on all those who had lost their lives from blood cancer. There were not many dry eyes to be found among the crowd. After the moment of silence passed, it was time to start the walk!

IMG_0062

 

The walk itself is not very long and only takes about an hour. The scenery of the walk though is beautiful! We walked down lakeshore drive right next to the lake. Between the lake, all the lights of the city, and all the pretty colored lanterns, there were plenty of perfect photo ops. The walk itself was a lot of fun and I am so glad that I walked it with my friends. It was great representing our Loyola community in the larger blood cancer fighting community. The rewarding feeling of helping someone is something that Loyola has taught me and I hope to continue to be a helping hand!

IMG_0061 (2)

Comments are closed.