National Random Acts of Light Day Date in the current year: June 13, 2024

Blood cancers are a group of cancers that affect the development of blood cells. There are three main types of blood cancers: leukemia, lymphoma, and myeloma. Leukemia typically begins in the bone marrow and causes the rapid production of abnormal blood cells. Lymphoma involves the production of abnormal lymphocytes (a type of white blood cell), and myeloma is a cancer that affects the plasma cells, another type of white blood cell.

Most blood cancers cannot be detected early by screening or prevented, so much of blood cancer research is focused on finding reliable treatments and bridging the gap between scientific discovery and clinical development of cancer treatments. A substantial portion of such research is funded by the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS), originally named the Robert Roesler de Villiers Foundation, is a nonprofit organization that was founded in 1949 by Rudolph and Antoinette de Villiers, a well-to-do family from New York whose son Robbie died from leukemia in 1944 at the age of 16. It focuses on raising funds for blood cancer research and supporting patients, survivors and their families.

The Society’s flagship fundraising program is Light the Night, a campaign that aims to “bring light to the darkness of cancer” through research to find treatments and, ideally, cures for leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin’s lymphoma and myeloma. The main initiatives of Light the Night include the annual Light the Night Walk and Random Acts of Light Day.

The first Random Acts of Light Day was observed on June 13, 2017. Random Acts of Light was originally conceived as a campaign where celebrities unexpectedly showed up at meetings with blood cancer patients and survivors to surprise them and give them words of encouragement. Half a year later, Random Acts of Light Day was launched to raise awareness of the importance of blood cancer research.

The inaugural Random Acts of Light Day was kicked off by Charles Esten, actor, musician and comedian best known for his role as Deacon Claybourne on Nashville. Esten surprised his fan Jordan Smith, a 19-year-old survivor from Tennessee who had overcome the same type of blood cancer as Esten’s daughter Addie.

On June 13, the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society encourages people to bring light to a cancer patient or survivor they know by surprising them with a random act of kindness, which can be as big or small as you like. You can pay them a surprise visit at the hospital and bring along a gift you know they’ll like, take them out for ice cream, coffee or lunch, treat them to a day at a spa, etc.

You also can observe Random Acts of Light Day by spreading awareness about the celebration and the power of cancer research on social media using the hashtag #RandomActsofLight and/or by donating to a charity that funds cancer research and strives to improve the quality of life of blood cancer patients.