The Shehadey Tower at the Save Mart Center at Fresno State will be lit red at 5 a.m. Tuesday, Sept. 17, in observance of Blood Cancer Awareness Month as part of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society Turn It Red Campaign that includes national landmarks across the country being lit red to mark the fight against the third-leading cancer killer.

Participating local organizers will meet Tuesday morning at the Shehadey Tower located at Shaw and Chestnut avenues to launch the month-long observance designed to remind the public that, despite progress, much work still needs to be done to save more lives. 

The event also helps promote the University’s first blood drive of the academic year from Sept. 17 through 19.

The campus blood drive will kick off from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 17, in the University Dining Hall and will continue 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday, Sept. 18 and 19. Bloodmobiles will be parked near the University Student Union and at the Maple Mall (south of the Satellite Student Union).

For Blood Cancer Awareness month, the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society has engaged several iconic national landmarks that will be lit red to raise awareness, such as Niagara Falls in New York, and the LAX Pylons at the Los Angeles International Airport. 

LLS recently announced it has more than doubled its funding of research focused specifically on childhood blood cancers, adding 20 new research grants valued at more than $13.8 million to its research portfolio in 2019. With these new grants, LLS now has committed more than $25 million over a five-year period to change fundamentally how children with blood cancers are treated. Further, LLS also supports grants that are relevant to adolescent and young adult cancer patients. 

“We’re thrilled that the Shehadey Tower is turning red for LLS during Blood Cancer Awareness Month this September,” said Debbie Truhett, LLS Central California Chapter executive director. “This year we are celebrating the launch of the LLS Children’s Initiative. LLS was founded by parents in 1949 whose child received a leukemia diagnosis. The Children’s Initiative will target our research efforts to ensure that children not only survive but thrive in their lives after treatment.”