Funding cancer research

Jim, Lauren and Bridget Murray pose after Bridget Murray decides to run for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Woman of the Year competition.

The Murray Group in Albany, New York has been a family-owned agency from the very beginning. President Jim Murray, founder of The Murray Group, currently works alongside his daughters, Vice Presidents Bridget and Lauren Murray, to lead the organization. Their involvement with the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) also has roots in their family.

Finding the silver lining

In 2009, Jim Murray’s wife passed away from breast cancer at the age of 58. Ten years later, Jim’s son Ryan Murray passed away from myeloma and plasma cell leukemia at age 40; he had also been a principal and vice president of the agency at the time of his passing. These tragic losses were terribly painful, but also united the family and the agency with the LLS to work together to fight cancer.

“We don’t want other families to experience these losses that we have, and we feel strongly the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society is critical in the fight against cancer.”

—Bridget Murray, vice president of The Murray Group

“We don’t want other families to experience these losses that we have, and we feel strongly the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society is critical in the fight against cancer,” said Bridget Murray. The agency began working with the nonprofit in October 2018, and since then, The Murray Group has donated over $100,000 to the LLS.

Woman of the Year

Vice President Bridget Murray is a board member of the agency’s local LLS branch, which represents Connecticut, Albany and eastern New York. In 2021, she ran for Woman of the Year, a 10-week fundraising competition that runs from March until June.

Bridget and Lauren Murray presenting at the Grand Finale of the 2022 Man and Woman of the Year competition.

Normally, the contest would have candidates running multiple events to raise money, but because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the ability to run events was significantly hampered. Still, The Murray Group knew that this perilous time was a time that cancer patients needed help the most.

Hard work paid off, and Bridget Murray won Woman of the Year for their chapter, raising $356,000, the highest amount ever raised by a candidate in that LLS branch. All of these funds went directly toward cancer research. Bridget Murray has since become heavily involved in the Man and Woman of the Year campaign leadership team. Through The Murray Group’s fundraising efforts, nearly $500,000 has been raised for LLS in total.

Making a difference

When Ryan Murray passed, he was in the middle of a clinical trial for CAR-T therapy for myeloma patients. Since then, LLS has helped fund two FDA-approved CAR-T therapies for multiple myeloma patients.

In addition to funding therapies like these, the LLS continues to develop new initiatives. “We are building a Children’s Initiative because children are being subject to antiquated treatments intended for adults,” said Francesca Pardi, the campaign development director for this LLS branch.

“We are building a Children’s Initiative because children are being subject to antiquated treatments intended for adults.”

—Francesca Pardi, campaign development director at the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society

The 2022 Make More Happen Award includes a donation of $5,000 from Liberty Mutual and Safeco on behalf of The Murray Group. This would help to fund the Light the Night Walk, which brings in hundreds of walkers to raise money for cancer patients. This year, it will help to fund the Children’s Initiative in particular.

How to Vote

Help The Murray Group win another $5,000 for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society by cheering them on with a vote!

If your agency volunteers with a 501(c)3 nonprofit, learn how you can win a Make More Happen Award here.