As the sun set Saturday night, a parade of hundreds of illuminated red and white balloons traveled down a two-mile stretch of Kelly Drive along the bank of the Schuylkill River.
The lights belonged to thousands of dedicated walkers -- taking to the streets to raise money to help find a cure for cancer.
Members of Penn's Kite and Key Society took part in the annual Light-the-Night Walk to raise money for medical research. Although only about 25 Penn students took part in the Walk, more than 60 donations were made from the University community, and the group raised $935 dollars.
Despite the lower-than-expected turnout, event organizer and College junior Amanda Kowalski said she was pleased with the results because "the main thing is to raise the money."
Kite and Key President Rory Levine said he "had no idea how successful this would be. [Our donation] is phenomenal.
"I'm wonderfully pleased with how we did," the College junior said.
The event helps to raise money for research to find cures for leukemia, lymphoma and various types of cancer.
Walkers could either participate on an individual basis or could be registered as part of a team, many of which were sponsored by corporations or Philadelphia organizations.
This year, 82 teams and over 2,000 people took part in the walk, but less than 50 were Penn students. More than $200,000 was raised.
For every $25 donated, teams or individuals were given a balloon with a small light bulb in it. Most walkers were given red balloons, but those participants who suffer from cancer, leukemia or lymphoma carried special white ones.
Nursing senior Caitlin Crowley said that she walked because she "understands the implications of leukemia, how important research is and how it needs to be funded by events like this."
College freshman David Reisner heard about the event from a friend and decided to walk because he "just thought it would be a nice thing to do."
But for many walkers, the event had more personal implications.
Nursing senior Kendra Varland has an uncle who suffers from Hodgkin's Lymphoma. "This is a very personal thing for my family," she said. "I am holding this balloon in honor of my uncle."
The actual walk, due to the abundance of very young and very old participants, took about an hour. However, the event lasted for most of the evening. Before the Walk began, a folk band played feel-good songs like "This Little Light of Mine," and "Lean on Me." Hungry walkers enjoyed free hot dogs and pretzels, and small children bounced on an inflatable moonwalk.
"What was so wonderful about the walk was that it seemed to be such a family event," Levine observed. "It was really nice to see a community of families walking for such a great cause."
