Today more than a million Americans are fighting a daily battle with blood cancers and every three minutes another person unwillingly joins the fight. I have been given the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to join the battle and help those living with blood cancers. The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (LLS) nominated Arianna Peper and Nkela Enkela Ndoni as candidates in their St. Louis “Student Visionaries of the Year” fundraising challenge, and I could not be more excited to join them as a team member, helping them raise money and awareness. This mission is especially important to me because of very close family connections with cancer. Many of my close family members have had or have an ongoing battle with cancer. I am honored to get to help in any way I can and try to raise money in the fight against cancer. 

The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society is the largest donor to blood cancer research in the nation. They have invested nearly $1.6 billion in research, and are leaders in advancing breakthroughs in immunotherapy, genomics and personalized medicine. These revolutionary new treatments originally discovered through blood cancer research are not being tested in clinical trials for other cancers. While there has been phenomenal progress, there is still so much more to be done. Cancer is still one of the leading causes of death in children and young adults. 

This campaign provides an opportunity to support the critical work of LLS in combating these diseases. I am honoring those who have battled cancers and raising money that will go directly to LLS in support of its longstanding mission to find a cure and improve the quality of life of patients and their families. Along with my team, I will work to increase awareness about the impact of blood cancers and the cutting-edge treatments that are currently being researched, as well as inspire other to join the fight to find a cure. 

I am alongside my friends as part of team Peperoni to help raise funds. I am proud to be a part of this campaign and work towards our goal to raise $100,000 during the next 7 weeks - January 17- March 7th, 2025. 

To donate to our campaign:

● Please visit my fundraising webpage: https://events.lls.org/gat/stlouissvoy25/SEnlund 

Help be part of the cure and help my team compete in the St. Louis Student Visionaries of the Year campaign. For more information, please contact me at sjenlund2008@gmail.com.  For more information about LLS and Student Visionaries of the Year, please visit https://www.lls.org/student-visionaries-of-the-year. 

Sincerely,

Samantha Enlund

Team Peperoni

2025 St. Louis Student Visionaries of the Year Team Member

PS: Make your donation go further and check to see if your company matches donations! https://www.lls.org/ways-help/employee-matching-gifts

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