Mary Shelly is a senior at Mckeesport Area High School. Mary is the editor of her school newspaper, the Red and Blue, and a member of the National Honor Society. A member of the Varsity Cheer Team, Mary is also a board member for Senior Class and her school's Interact Club. With an automatic acceptance into the Honors Program, Mary is planning to attend Point Park University with a major in Public Relations and Advertising in the fall. Mary is a freelance writer/ School Board Correspondent for the Tube City Almanac.

I am honored to be supporting a candidate in the 2018 Students of the Year program, a seven-week initiative in which select high school students from around the country participate in a fundraising competition to benefit The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. I am raising critical dollars in honor of a young patient hero who is currently battling or is in remission from a blood cancer. Each dollar is a vote. The candidate team who raises the most money at the end of the seven weeks is named Student of the Year. My mission is to not only raise the most money but also to bring attention to blood cancers like leukemia, which is the most common form of cancer in children and teens.

Since the early 1960s, five-year survival rates for many blood cancer patients have doubled, tripled or even quadrupled. And many LLS supported therapies not only help blood cancer patients but are helping patients with other cancers and serious diseases. In fact, drugs first approved for blood cancers are now approved to treat patients with stomach cancers, skin cancers, and autoimmune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis.

We really are changing the face of blood cancer!

All donations are greatly appreciated and are tax deductible. They'll not only support LLS-funded research but will help provide critical information and support for patients, and support advocacy for laws to ensure patients can access the care and treatments they need.

Please visit our website often and bring friends who would also like to donate!

On behalf of blood cancer patients everywhere I thank you for your support!

For more information about LLS, please visit www.lls.org