Family Video, the nation’s largest movie and game rental chain, has teamed with the University of Chicago Medicine and the Lymphoma Research Foundation in the fight to cure Lymphoma.
On March 15, Family Video stores across the nation began the second annual “Round It Up for Lymphoma” fundraiser, which asks customers to round up their transactions to the nearest dollar and donate the change toward the cause of finding a cure, according to Leitchfield Family Video Manager Megan Millazo.
Millazo said Leitchfield’s Family Video is participating in the event and has set a goal to raise at least $1,200 before the fundraiser ends on March 31.
The Leitchfield location had raised $378 over the first six days, which already equals the total amount raised by the store during last year’s event, while the company as a whole has raised $415,000, she said.
Millazo said that during the 2012 fundraiser, Family Video raised an overall total of $1 million toward Lymphoma research, and she is confident that based on the number of donations received so far, the company will raise much more this year.
Family Video became involved in the fight against Lymphoma because the disease has directly affected the lives of a number of the company’s employees, and Family Video President Keith Hoogland wanted to help, Millazo said.
According to a press release provided by Family Video, all proceeds from the Round It Up for Lymphoma event will go toward benefitting one of two causes: The Lymphoma Research Foundation or the launch of a Lymphoma Tissue Bank at the University of Chicago Medicine, which would allow “medical experts to discover new genes, as well as differing genetic profiles of lymphomas that look the same under a microscope. These differing genetic profiles explain why some patients are cured and some are not.”
More than 500,000 Americans have currently been diagnosed with Lymphoma, the most common form of blood cancer in adults and third most common in children, and 200 more are diagnosed every day, according to the press release.
Customers who wish to participate in the fundraiser may do so at any Family Video location, or they can make a direct donation via the company’s website at familyvideo.com, Millazo said.
“Every little bit helps,” she said.
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