By way of introduction, we are Hannah Cleary, a senior at Holy Child in Rye, NY and Brian Dervin, a senior at Archbishop Stepinac High School in White Plains, NY. We are co-candidates in the 2018 ‘Students of the Year’ fundraising campaign to benefit The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. This is a seven week initiative in which select high school students from around the country participate in a fundraising competition and the candidate/team who raises the most money is named ‘Students of the Year’. Our mission is not only to raise the most money, but also to bring attention to blood cancers which affects people of all ages and ethnic backgrounds every single day. We have chosen to run for ‘Students of the Year’ because both of us have been affected by blood cancers in different ways.

In Hannah’s personal experience with blood cancers, she lost cherished family members that she never had the opportunity to meet in person. Three women in her family: Her Grandmother, Great-Grandmother and Great Aunt, lost their lives too soon to leukemia. This year marks the
20th Anniversary of Hannah’s Grandmother’s passing. Her Grandmother, (Marian Elizabeth O’Keeffe) was a loving, generous and selfless person. By participating in this campaign, it allows Hannah to honor her grandmother’s memory in a very personal way.

Brian’s personal connection to LLS began when he witnessed a close family friend, June Burke, participate in the LLS fundraising campaign, ‘Man & Woman of the Year’. She was raising funds in honor of her sister, Susan, who unfortunately lost her battle with leukemia last July. Brian has known June for most of his life and was inspired by her consistent impact on her community and her passion for LLS. He loves to help others and when this opportunity was presented he felt compelled to act and help find a cure for patients battling blood cancers.

Thank you for giving us the opportunity to share our stories. We are motivated to do our best to raise funds for this worthy cause and we hope you will consider joining us in our efforts. We have been working hard to prepare for the next seven weeks. We have put together a Team of volunteers who have generously agreed to donate their time and resources to assist us in our endeavor. We would appreciate any contribution that you are willing to donate to this campaign. Any and all donations are tax deductible.

In addition, we will be hosting local community events in the upcoming weeks to raise awareness about blood cancers and to give people an opportunity to donate in other ways. We look forward to making a difference in the lives of so many. We hope you will join us in our
efforts. If you have any questions please do not hesitate to reach out to us.

Sincerely,

Hannah Cleary: h.cleary@holychildrye.org

Brian Dervin: der22888@stepinac.org