Dear Friends and Family,

I am very excited to be a candidate for Student Visionary of the Year (SVOY) 2023 with the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society! SVOY is a philanthropic leadership development program for high schoolers across the country. The SVOY campaign takes place over a course of seven weeks and I am competing with other high schoolers in my area to raise the most money for LLS!

Charlie's Angels, my fundraising team, and I are incredibly excited about this journey with one another. The mission of both LLS and Charlie's Angels is to find a cure for blood cancer and to improve the lives of blood cancer patients and their families. We are trying to raise $50,000 and I believe we will be successful in doing so! 

My team name is in honor of my Uncle Charlie, who passed away from cancer two years ago. Unfortunately, my Uncle Charlie was not the only member of my family that cancer has affected. Many of my family members have had to face their own battles with cancer so, sadly, it is pretty easy to say that cancer has had a major effect on me. My childhood ended when I was ten and my dad received his cancer diagnosis. I grew up overnight and began having an adult role in my family. During all this, I lived through my dad’s stem cell, heart, and kidney transplants. I also went through what it is like to have a parent’s heart stop and for them to be revived. I have experienced my dad going into hospice care and grieving his death while he was still alive. Although I am extremely grateful that my dad is alive today, I still live in fear knowing that his cancer can claim his life at any moment.

None of this is fair and it needs to stop. The suffering needs to end. Children should not have to grow up too early or have their parent taken from them by the unforgiving and cruel nature of cancer.

This is why the patient support that LLS offers is so important. In 2021 alone, LLS provided $241 million in financial assistance to over 42,000 patients and addressed the gaps in cancer outcomes and healthcare in underserved populations.

All of this fantastic outreach is made possible by people like YOU! Charlie’s Angels has a fundraising goal of $50,000 and with the help of everyone, it can be achieved. (All donations are greatly appreciated and tax-deductible.)

Until a cure,

Kayla Greig 

My dad and I on the first day of school this year

My family almost a year after my dad was diagnosed