The Long Island City-based company Michael C. Fina raised $118,000 in 2008 to benefit The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society through the Queens Light the Night Walk.
This marked the second year the company participated in the walk. In June of 2007, Vice President Michael A. Fina said his father and one of the company’s owners, Charles Fina, was diagnosed with acute myelogenous leukemia (AML). That, combined with the company’s long-standing commitment to being involved in the community, led it to participate in Light the Night.
“That’s been in our nature forever, so when he got sick we thought this would be a great organization to support as a company,” Fina said.
The company provides a dollar for dollar match of what is raised by its employees. During its first year, Michael C. Fina raised $86,000. This year, that amount increased to $118,000.
Fina said that the growth can be attributed to the participation of Michael C. Fina’s 350 employees, and the support from their business partners.
Along with raising the funds, the company also participated in the October walk together.
“We were incredibly, pleasantly surprised,” Michael Osso, the Executive Director of the New York City Chapter of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, said of the donation.
Osso said that, in any year, such a fundraising increase “would be a tremendous accomplishment” but, given the current economy, Osso said it is even more surprising. However, Fina said that the state of the economy didn’t make the fundraising any harder.
Fina said that it was an incredible feeling to be able to present the society with $118,000 and that he wished all the employees who made it possible could have shared in it.
By raising this much money, Michael C. Fina has become the number one Leukemia & Lymphoma fundraiser in Queens as well as the second largest nationally.
Because of the company’s accomplishment, Dr. Walter Roland’s research grant will be named in honor of Charles Fina.
“Their volunteerism and support of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society Mission will make a significant difference in the lives of blood cancer patients,” Osso said.
To find more about the society’s Light the Night Walk and how to get involved, visit www.lightthenight.org/nyc.
