February 15, 2024

Welcome to my personal journey with LLS!  Over two decades ago, I become a supporter and liaison through my platform as an English teacher and passionate life-long volunteer.  Since then, I have met hundreds of young survivors who have greatly influenced my life like David Khechumyan, Alex Darbinyan, Raul Ochoa, Eva Hooten, Frances Abu-Shanab, and my own father who has recently been impacted by blood cancer.  Over the years, I have facilitated raising over 7 million dollars through my work with the LLS Student Series and with the Student Visionaries of the Year campaign.  Today, I hope to motivate you to donate and support our students and today’s youth.  

Please take a few moments to read what some of our Burbank seniors are doing for our community and the world around them.  FIVE teams of our students are running in a high stakes competition and philanthropic campaign for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society called “Student Visionaries of the Year”, a seven-week initiative in which I serve on the leadership committee for the Greater Los Angeles area each year.  This is a volunteer effort that is not only to raise money for blood cancer treatment, but to aid in research to save lives of those affected by blood cancers.  

*The kick-off for the campaign began last night with 24 teams of students all committing to raise a minimum of $50,000 A PIECE with the goal of 3.3 MILLION DOLLARS cumulatively!!! WOW, right?

Announcing our FIVE LLS Teams:

Team 1: Andranik Bilbulyan, Victoria Kalantar, and Alfred Janibekyan: Team AVA

Team 2: Alaleh Dolatshahi and Sienna Zorlu: Team Dancers Against Cancer

Team 3: Rita Arjikyan: Team Change Makers

Team 4: Lily Sagharian and Alex Takhmasian: Team Closer to a Cure

Team 5: Vivian Johns and Alana Sanchez Team C.U.R.E. 

LLS is the largest foundation of cutting-edge research to advance cures. They have invested over 1.3 billion in research and are the leaders in advancing breakthroughs in immunotherapy, genomics, and personalized medicines. We really are changing the face of blood cancer. 

Please join me in supporting The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society “Student Visionaries of the Year”, and help us reach our $3.3 million dollar goal by making a donation to the 2024 “Visionaries of the Year” campaign.  Below are the links to our teams and their stories if you would like to read, donate, and congratulate.  You may receive individual emails, but I wanted to have it all in one place for you.

How to help:

• Donate using individual links:

• Can’t choose which team? Donate here or write a check made payable to The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and I will donate on behalf of Burbank teams.

• Donating items (theater tickets, services, giftcards, etc.) that will be auctioned at the Grand Finale Celebration at the Taglyan held on April 4, 2024!  All donations are tax deductible #13-5644916

Respectfully,       

Wendy Miller

2024 LLS Visionaries of the Year Campaign