Our names are Madison Wrzos, Kiley Wrzos, and Michael Boelens. Madison is a senior at Saint Viator High School, Kiley is a freshman at Saint Viator High School, and Michael is a Sophomore at Huntley High School.

We received an email back in November of 2018 from the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society about a program called Student of the Year. The email appeared to have been sent from God because one year ago our aunt was diagnosed with Leukemia. She continues to battle every day for her life and we want to be there to support her. Student of the Year offers us the opportunity to do so. A nationwide program, our goal is to raise funds to help support the Leukemia &Lymphoma Society’s goals of funding research, providing education and support to patients, and offering any help a patient may need.

Our lives changed the day we learned that someone we loved would be faced with a battle for the rest of her life. We want to prevent the pain our family has endured as each day brings forth new challenges. Our family is known for being full of life. We are blessed with a very large family there are over 45 of us in total and every day is an adventure. It hurt us to realize my aunt was at the hands of cancer. There is no cure. However, the advances in this disease and the chemo medication she has received as a result of LLS has been remarkable. We want to help in the fight against this horrible disease and hopefully one day find a cure.

Every three minutes someone is diagnosed with blood cancer. With your help, continued research can create innovations and provide patients with an increased chance of survival. Through the endless amount of work, the survival rates of patients have doubled, tripled, or quadrupled since 1960. Imagine the improvements that could be reached if everyone donated. 

Together, we can eradicate cancer. Together, we can give someone life. 

On behalf of blood cancer patients everywhere, thank you for your support!

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