A walk-a-thon organized by an Evanston Township High Schoolsenior to benefit the Leukemia Research Foundation has beencanceled because of a lack of community interest.

Laps for Leukemia was scheduled to take place from 5:30 p.m. to9 p.m. June 6 at Evanston’s James Park. The event had been approvedby Evanston City Council.

But Rachel Goldberg, the event’s organizer, said she could notfind enough student participants.

“It was a lot of second-semester seniors,” Goldberg said. “Theyweren’t motivated.”

Representatives from the Leukemia Research Foundation originallyexpected 400 to 500 people to attend the event.

Goldberg, who organized the event for a school project,collected about $3,500 in solicitations to fund it. Though Laps forLeukemia was canceled, she still plans to donate the money shecollected to the foundation, which is a nonprofit organizationbased in Evanston.

The foundation contributes more than $2 million annually toleukemia research. It also provides educational resources,emotional support and financial assistance to leukemiapatients.

Its next event, the Jim Gibbons Memorial 5K Run, 3K Walk andSurvivors’ Strut, is scheduled for June 19. The event will honorJim Gibbons, an investigative reporter with ABC 7 Chicago who diedof leukemia.