Hi everyone!
Many people are not aware that the company they work for matches donations. Kaiser Permanente is just one example of a company that matches donations! To find out if your company matches donations, google LLS matching gifts and click on the link, and from there you can type in your company name. You can also reach out to your supervisor. Thank you all again for your support!

As a Student of the Year Candidate, I am raising funds not only to honor my late uncle PJ, who passed away from Acute Myeloid Leukemia, but also to celebrate this year's local Honored Heroes, Emmy Gutierrez and Nicolas Hambalek. It has been a privilege getting to hear Emmy and Nicolas' story, and below is a picture of Nicolas and I! Emmy and Nicolas are local blood cancer survivors, and LLS helped both of them throughout their treatment by helping with transportation costs and providing volunteers to assist them. Their stories are so inspiring, and it highlights just how much LLS does for cancer patients everywhere! I ask that you please consider donating to my campaign in order to support this amazing organization that will continue to help kids like Emmy and Nicolas through research.

I am honored to be a candidate for the 2020 Students of the Year program, a seven-week initiative from January 23-March 13 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 that raises the most money at the end of the seven weeks is named Student of the Year. Our 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. Today, I am asking for your help to reach my goal of $50,000. 

I was motivated to join LLS in the fight against blood cancers because of my own personal experience with witnessing a loved one battling leukemia. My uncle, PJ Alvendia, was only 15 year years old when he was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML). PJ was a talented athlete, and he was involved in a multitude of sports, including football, wrestling, and basketball. He cared deeply about his close friends and family. 

Because we were close, it was difficult to watch him stay in the hospital day after day and undergo chemotherapy treatments. After a year long battle, he passed away at 16 years old. Although he is gone, I will never forget how special he was. In fact, he once texted a friend that “God has a plan. I’d rather it be me going through this than anyone else.” PJ has inspired me to fight for other patients and families, because no one should have to suffer with blood cancer. If I am able to reach my goal of $50,000, I will be able to link a research grant in memory of PJ. 

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.

I am proud to be raising money for such an innovative and determined organization. 

You can make a tax-deductible donation by donating online at my personal fundraising page soylea.org or by mailing a check payable to The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society; please print my name, Lea Hernandez, in the memo section. You can mail a check to 1522 N. Reunion Way, Clovis, CA 93619. The deadline to donate money towards my campaign is March 11. If you have any questions, please email me at slammingleukemia@gmail.com or contact me at 559-472-8898. 

Thank you in advance for your generosity and support!

Lea Hernandez 

2020 Student of the Year Candidate

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