The Buckley Fire Department finished third, raising $19,262, in the Washington/Alaska Chapter of The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s Scott Firefighter Stairclimb.
Scott Firefighter Stairclimb organizers announced the fundraising totals May 6. The Scott Firefighter Stairclimb and Big Climb, the fundraising arm for the public, which took place in March raised a record $1.9 million, up 25 percent from 2008.
The 18th annual Scott Firefighter Stairclimb raised a record $640,000, up 21 percent from 2008, while the 23rd annual Big Climb raised a record of nearly $1.3 million, up 28 percent from 2008.
According to a press release, attendance at both events also increased in 2009, up 10 percent from the previous year. The Scott Firefighter Stairclimb brought a record 1,556 firefighter to Seattle from 25 United States, Canada, New Zealand and Germany. The Big Climb attracted a record 6,000 participants from 17 states and Canada.
“To set a new fundraising record during this challenging economic time is astonishing,” said Anne Gillingham, executive director of the Washington/Alaska Chapter of The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. “The generous financial support that we see from family and friends of those battling blood cancers will enable the continued success of the LLS local education, research and patient services programs.”
The Seattle Fire Department earned top team fundraising honors at the Scott Firefighter Stairclimb with $30,018 being raised. Oregon’s Tualatin Valley Fire and Rescue was second with $26,971, followed by the city of Buckley’s fire department. The event’s leading individual fundraiser was Brett Krache of Fall City fire with $11,657. Seattle Fire Department’s Dan Nelson was second with $6,429 and Bradley Anderson of the Purdue University Fire Department in Indiana raised $5,530.
In the Big Climb, Climbing for Caleb, a group of 335 climbers mostly from the Seattle and the Tacoma area, won top team fundraising honors collecting a total $45,268. Project Trevor, a group of 46 Eastside climbers, was second with $27,682, followed by McKinstry and Co. employees raising $16,585. Mark Taylor of Seattle was the Big Climb’s top individual fundraiser with $14,300. Benjamin Morris of Seattle was second with $7,079, followed by Randy Meyer of Mukilteo, Wash., with $6,485.
The 2010 Scott Firefighter Stairclimb is scheduled for March 7, while the public Big Climb will take place March 21. Both climbs take place at Seattle’s Columbia Center.
An estimated 894,543 Americans are living with leukemia, Hodgkin and non-Hodgkin lymphoma, myeloma and myelodysplastic syndromes. In 2008, an estimated 138,530 people in the U.S. were diagnosed with leukemia, lymphoma or myeloma. New cases of leukemia, Hodgkin and non-Hodgkin lymphoma and myeloma account for 9.6 percent of the 1.4 million new cancer cases diagnosed in the United States this year.
