SCOTTSDALE PROGRESS | WWW.SCOTTSDALE.ORG | SEPTEMBER 13, 2020 NEIGHBORS
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Light the Night gala going virtual this year BY KRISTINE CANNON Progress Staff Writer
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aising $1 million in the midst of a pandemic may seem an overwhelming feat, but for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, it’s a necessary one. After all, as the society puts it, cancer doesn’t stop during a global crisis. September is Lymphoma Awareness Month and Blood Cancer Awareness Month and according to the society, nearly 1.3 million people in the U.S. live with or are in remission from a blood cancer. As part of the non-profit’s signature community fundraising campaign Light the Night, which helps fund blood cancer research, LLS has already raised more than $85,000 of its $1 million goal. “[One million dollars] was last year’s fundraising goal too and we hit $1.1 million, which was awesome,” said Scottsdale resident and Corporate Walk Chair
for Light the Night, Liz Scott. “Even given COVID and everything going on, the team at [LLS] is just not willing to give up on the [$1 million] goal.” While the Light the Night event typically attracts thousands of attendees — all of whom carry white, gold, and red lanterns at the evening walk, resulting in a visually stunning spectacle — this year’s walk will instead be virtual on Nov. 14. “One of the most special parts of it is they have what we call the survivor circle. So, prior to the walk actually starting, all the survivors are asked to gather together in the middle with their white lanterns, and then everybody else is surrounding them – I’m getting goosebumps just saying it – with their red and gold lanterns, and they’ll beam of white light shoots up into the sky,” Scott described. “It’s just this beautiful moment of support.” This year’s walk may look different for safety reasons, but, Scott said, “it’s still
going to be very, very meaningful.” According to Campaign Development Manager Edyth Haro, Light the Night’s virtual platform will be an “interactive and engaging experience. “That way, LLS supporters and volunteers will enjoy the same iconic elements of Light the Night – illuminated lanterns, Circle of Survivors and the Remembrance Pavilion – in a different format but with the same passion to bring an end to blood cancers once and for all.” “They’re wanting it to be, obviously, very safe,” Scott added. “We have people that are currently battling cancer. We want to make sure of an abundance of caution that they’re protected.” Raising awareness and money
wanted to help people understand how powerful their words [are],” Murrow said. “We get into, ‘What are you in need of?’ and, especially now, people are need of peace.” Since 2000, Murrow has introduced customers and clients from all over the country to her trademarked ColorMe art style, which focus on specific words and phrases “interwoven into bold and thin brush lines.” “I’ve always been interested in art, and I went through a spiritual journey in my twenties when I heard Tony Robbins say, ‘You can have fun with your natural talents and God-given ability,” Murrow
said. “So, I read the Bible, I read self-improvement books. I read spiritual books, and I came out with a revelation of the power of words.” Pre-pandemic, Murrow taught art classes at least twice a week at senior living facilities. She also brought her ColorMe Art Spa, an art-teaching and art-creation company that offers art classes and experiences, to corporate and other events But the pandemic brought it all to a halt – “Oh, screeching,” Murrow said. The Scottsdale resident began offering
see LYMPHOMA page 22
Scottsdale resident and Professor of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology at the Mayo Clinic Dr. Lisa Rimsza is one of the newest members to join the Lymphoma Research Foundation’s Scientific Advisory Board. (LRF)
ColorMe Art seeks to address pandemic anxiety BY KRISTINE CANNON Progress Staff Writer
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eace. Gratitude. Love. When Debra Lee Murrow, the owner of ColorMe Art Spa, works with her clients to create her signature ColorMe art pieces that focus on words and phrases, she asks them not how they feel but what they want to feel. And during the pandemic, “peace,” “gratitude” and “love” are some words her clients have used to help them, in a way, color the stress and chaos away. “From the very beginning, my art started with words and phrases because I
virtual art classes via Zoom and commissioned art pieces. She also saw a spike in sales for her Art To-Go packages. “At least a 20 percent increase,” Murrow said. Murrow’s Art To-Go packages range from coloring name cards to DIY birthday party art packages. Those feature custom-made, hand-crafted items, like an 18-by-24-inch drawing, a puzzle, necklaces and postcards, that customers can color in. Packages can cost anywhere from just
see COLORME ART page 23
