Fans and listeners and the late radio personality Scott McKenzie were out in full force Thursday at the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's Light the Night Walk. The Orlando event honored the late WOMX Mix 105.1 FM host and drew about 2,600, the society estimates.
"We have raised $450,000 and counting -- the most ever in Central Florida," said Kelley Lesperance, executive director of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society of Northern and Central Florida. "Last year this event raised $365,000."
McKenzie, the morning host who entertained Central Florida for nearly 25 years, died in August after a seven-year battle with cancer. He was 59.
The Orlando Sentinel reports the society presented a special award to McKenzie's widow, Dr. Fran Lesser Friedman, to recognize his contributions to the group over the years. Since 1997, McKenzie had hosted the annual Light the Night Walk to support those affected by blood cancer.
"He hosted it every year, until the one he missed because he was in treatment for a blood cancer himself -- lymphoma," Lesperance wrote on Facebook in August.
The society started a Light the Night Team -- #OrlandoLovesScott -- and asked the community to join and make donations. Lesperance said the society was trying to get #OrlandoLovesScott to $10,000 -- it stands at $6,977.
To honor McKenzie at the walk, Cox Media Group Orlando, CBS Radio Orlando and iHeartMedia Orlando joined forces.
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