Students of the Year Chicago
Samantha Gonzaga | Team Aspire
Welcome to Samantha Gonzaga's SOY Fundraising Page!
Jan 11, 2020
I am honored to participate as a candidate for the 2020 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 competing because of friends and family that have battled cancer. Recently, I met two 9-year olds named Maddy and Ryen. Maddy was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) six weeks shy of her 2nd birthday and Ryen was diagnosed with ALL at the age of 5. Maddy and Ryen met right before they started kindergarten and bonded over their similar battles with blood cancer. Now, they are both healthy and inseparable!
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.
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, thank you for your support!
For more information about LLS, please visit www.lls.org.
2 Comments
Celia De Leon
Thank you for your efforts in raising awareness and funds for this cause. Wishing you luck!
Marc Goldman
Samantha --- thank you so much for your fund raising efforts. Our 3 children graduated from Hersey in the 1990's. My wife, Karen, did volunteer work in the Arlington Heights community for over 40 years. She also worked at NCH, and for the Arlington Heights Chamber of Commerce. Karen was a member of our Saviour's Lutheran Church, and her funeral service was performed there on 11-17-17. She passed away from Alzheimer's disease. We were married two weeks short of 47 years. I honor her memory by donating to others that possess the same type of volunteer spirit. Thank you for being such a conscientious young lady who is willing to do volunteer work to help others in need, and make our world a better place to live. Good luck to you in your future endeavors.