I am extremely excited to announce that I am a part of a wonderful event with the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) called the Students of the Year Campaign. I have been nominated to be part of a fun and heart-warming challenge: to raise funds with other high school students for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

Together with my friends, family, and team, we are raising money for research to fight the never ending battle against cancer. Since 1949, LLS has provided over $1.2 billion in breakthrough research! So many amazing researchers are working hard to find a cure for cancer with the funds raised during my campaign! Here is a link to a video showing a current research project https://youtu.be/7-2aHIpglt4 !! Check it out!

I have my own personal reason for doing this Students of the Year Campaign. There is a boy in my class at Notre Dame High School named Jake Stromsburg, and he was diagnosed with cancer in March of this year. He cannot attend school this year because of his cancer treatments and has been stuck in the hospital. I didn’t know Jake very well at the time, but it really hit me hard that someone my age could have something go wrong in his life that can make him put his life on hold. I really wanted to do something for him. Then, a few months later, I learned about the Students of the Year campaign and thought that this was the perfect opportunity to do something and help make sure that this never happens to anyone again. Currently, the tumor in Jake’s body is shrinking and he is going through chemo treatments. Jake is doing well and is slowly on the way to recovery.

My team and I have seven weeks to officially raise the money for our Students of the Year Campaign starting on January 16 and will end on March 6. Every dollar raised by my team counts as one vote for my campaign. The candidate who raises the most money at the end of the seven weeks will earn the title of the 2020 Student of the Year for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. With a lot of help from experienced LLS staff, we can all make a difference in the fight against cancer.

I would love your help and support in this fight against cancer. I need your help to reach my goal of raising $100,000 and more for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. My team's name is “Against All Odds” because we know that the odds are stacked against those diagnosed with leukemia or lymphoma, but yet we need to push forward with research and keep trying to find a cure. It's not an option to back down!

I am honored to be a part of this fight against cancer. Thank you for taking time out of your day to read this letter. I know life can be busy and hectic, but anything that you donate to my Students of the Year Campaign would be greatly appreciated by me, my team, and all those in the world who are currently suffering and fighting many forms of cancer. If you have any questions, you can email me at ehof2003@yahoo.com. Anything and everything helps no matter how big or small. Let’s fight cancer together!!

With much love and gratitude,

Erik Hofmeister