Marcel Bendorf was on his way to the movies when the pain in his lower back and legs became so intense he could not sit up or stand. What followed was an emergency room visit, days of testing, and a diagnosis that would consume years of his childhood: B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia, a cancer of the blood and bone marrow.
Now 11, Marcel is a year cancer-free. On the evening of October 24, 2026, he will step into the lights at Sutter Health Park in West Sacramento as the 2026 Honored Hero of Light the Night, the annual blood cancer gathering hosted by Blood Cancer United, the organization long known as the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. The ceremony begins at 6:45 p.m. at the ballpark at 400 Ballpark Drive, and the public is invited.
Light the Night is built around three verbs the organization repeats like a creed: celebrate, honor, remember. Survivors are celebrated. Families, caregivers and supporters are honored. Those who have died of blood cancer are remembered. The evening opens with a ceremony before participants walk together carrying illuminated lanterns, a visual that gives the event its name and its emotional charge.
The lantern colors carry the meaning. White lanterns are carried by blood cancer patients and survivors, marking their own journeys. Red lanterns are carried by supporters, friends, family members and coworkers walking in solidarity. Gold lanterns are carried in memory of someone lost. When thousands of these lights move together after dark, the effect is something between a procession and a vigil, equal parts celebration and grief.
That the Sacramento edition happens at a minor league ballpark is part of its character. Sutter Health Park, formerly known as Raley Field, is home to the Sacramento River Cats, and the venue's family-friendly bones suit the event. According to the event's Sacramento FAQ, the walk is designed to be kid friendly, with the River Cats mascot, Dinger, on hand and the ballpark's play structure open to children.
Marcel's story is the kind that gives the evening its center of gravity. His symptoms arrived abruptly, on what should have been an ordinary outing, a reminder of how quickly childhood leukemia can interrupt a life. His father, Christopher Bendorf, appeared with him to share the family's experience ahead of the event. In a LinkedIn post, a family friend and former colleague of Christopher's described him as a man who "shows up everyday in his community to bring financial literacy and generational change to the greater Sacramento area," and who "stood up to fight for his son while still showing up everyday for everyone else." The same post noted that the writer would walk on October 24 in memory of his own late wife, who died of blood cancer nearly six years ago, a small illustration of how many people in a crowd of thousands carry a gold lantern for someone.
The medical backdrop is one of real progress and remaining work. The American Cancer Society puts the overall five-year survival rate for children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia at about 90 percent, meaning the share of children who live at least five years after diagnosis. Age at diagnosis and initial white blood cell count are considered the two most important prognostic factors. Survival rates for childhood ALL have climbed over time, a shift driven in significant part by the kind of research that events like this one fund.
Blood Cancer United's history stretches back to 1949, when the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society was founded with a mission to cure leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin's disease and myeloma. The organization later rebranded as Blood Cancer United, a name change intended to reflect a scope that now covers every blood cancer rather than the two in its old title. The organization says funds raised through Light the Night support blood cancer research, free information and support services, and advocacy for access to care.
Registration for the event is free, though walkers are encouraged to raise money. Details and registration are available through Blood Cancer United's Sacramento Light the Night listing.
For the Bendorfs, the night marks a full-circle moment: from a boy too sick to stand up on the way to the movies to an 11-year-old standing in front of a ballpark crowd as a symbol of survival, with a white lantern in his hand and thousands of lights behind him.