LtE: Thank You
Dear Editor,
To all of you who have supported Grammy Barbara’s ‘Light the Night’ Team over the years, we want to say THANK YOU!!! The Leukemia Lymphoma Society (LLS), now known as Blood Cancer United ‘Light the Night’ (LTN) Walk raises funds to support research for a cure and better treatments for all blood cancers, as well as to support families who receive the frightening diagnosis of cancer. LLS was there for us when our mom Barbara Snow was diagnosed with Leukemia in 2007.
Photo provided by Linda Snow Dockser.
Chances are that you know one or more of us on Grammy Barbara’s Team. We are predominantly Reading Residents: Me/Linda Snow Dockser (and Mark), Nancy Snow (and David Owens), Michael Snow and Elizabeth Lemons. We are supported by our children: Jennie, Aaron/Alexa, Josh/Katherine, Abigail and Nathaniel Lemons, Ben and Hannah Owens. Our 94-year-old dad, Ed Snow, still does the LTN Walk on Boston Common with us!
All our lives, our mother, Barbara Snow, devoted herself to us, her family, while modeling kindness through her actions. One way she showed her love was through her cooking. She was known for cooking for friends and neighbors when they were sick or grieving; for leaving muffins on doorsteps weekly and always finding room for friends and strangers at our holiday table.
When Grammy Barbara was diagnosed with Leukemia in May 2007, our world shook. She went from walking miles a day to her death in 3 months. We will never forget that summer. On September 2 nd, 2007, after a summer of tortuous chemo treatments, our world cracked open never to be the same.
This is why Grammy Barbara’s LTN Team was created by her granddaughter Abigail Lemons for her Bat Mitzvah Project. This is why, this year, granddaughter Jennie Dockser baked and sold Grammy Barbara’s popular 7-Way bars, raising a $220 donation. Since 2008, fundraising has been therapeutic for us, adding to Grammy Barbara’s legacy of love, and YOUR support has been vital to our efforts!
Linda Snow Dockser and Barbara Snow (Grammy). Photo provided by Linda Snow Dockser.
Each year, more of our friends have been impacted by Blood and other cancers and yet there have been federal cuts to medical research. That is why campaigns like LTN are more important than ever to fund research and educate while giving hope to those stricken and their families.
Fortunately, research has discovered more effective treatments and it is no longer necessarily a death sentence to get a cancer diagnosis. This gives us hope and motivates us to continue fundraising. It is hard to ask friends for money, but it is vital to fund research that will make cancer and the side effects of treatments a nightmare of the past. The progress of this research has also informed treatments of other cancers, like the cell-targeting treatment for Ovarian Cancer with which my mother-in-law was diagnosed in 2022.
Last year, I was nominated to become a member of the Executive Challenge Team and our donors – YOU – responded. Even though I have no ties to pharmaceutical or large companies, this year, I was the third highest fundraiser in the Boston Area. Grammy Barbara’s Team came in second place within the ‘Teams’ category. WE COULD NOT HAVE DONE THIS WITHOUT EACH OF YOU!
Barbara Snow (Grammy) flanked by twins Benjamin and Hannah Owens, children of Nancy Snow and David Owens. Photo provided by Linda Snow Dockser.
We recognize that everyone is bombarded with donation requests. This makes us even more appreciative of every nickel donated. This includes the redeemable bottles/cans delivered to our driveway. Many thanks to EASTGATE LIQUORS IN N. READING for their help! So many thanks to our neighborhood children who have collected cans and inspired others to donate theirs. Their enthusiasm for helping others is both inspiring and energizing. We are so grateful!
Because of our donors, Grammy Barbara’s Team raised over $18,475.29 this year and over $153,818.66 since our team was launched in 2008. We will not stop! We have already committed to ‘LTN’ again next year. And in the meantime, clean redeemable bottles/cans continue to be turned into a donation to Blood Cancer United. We have raised over $900 dollars in nickels! Just drop them in my driveway on Beaver Road and that magic happens. Thank you in advance for your continued support!
May we celebrate the cure for cancer and improved treatments soon!
With Appreciation,
Linda and Grammy Barbara’s Team