Dear peers,

It’s 2019 and another year goes by as I wonder why I can’t find answers to simple questions like why a cure for cancer hasn’t been discovered? It’s a disease so common and normal, people have become numb to hearing the horrors it brings. My name is Hedaia Anayah and I’m a junior at Monte Vista High School. I’m participating in the Students of the Year program (SOY) which is a 7-week humanitarian leadership development program raising money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Students of the Year gives me the opportunity to bring change among families and friends who experience the struggles of cancer. I personally believe in the idea that you cannot truly acknowledge how someone feels unless you’ve experienced it for yourself. And not until a family friend and neighbor of mine, Omar, died of Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML), did I really understand how damaging cancer is to a person. Specifically, at 3 years old, he was diagnosed with a type of blood cancer called ALL Leukemia. He overcame it with bravery. Unfortunately, at 11 years old, he was diagnosed one more time and thankfully he beat it! And on September 21st, 2018, he passed away fighting for the last time. Omar may have only been 13 at the time he died, but he was a role model. A role model who lived by perseverance, honor, and gratitude. And SOY wants to continue his legacy by taking his hardships and turning them into a message of hope for others. Omar’s mom once told me a story of how Omar used to sing a song by Coldplay in the hospital. He would sing the lyrics “when you get what you want but not what you need”. And when I truly thought about it, Omar was telling a story of how he was getting chemo therapy, love, and care from doctors and families, but not the cure for cancer, which he desperately needed. This is what we’re doing, my team and I are trying to make a difference. A difference in someone’s life. Personally, I found Omar’s story to be heartwarming and truthful. He kept a smile on his face during most of his treatment, which is when I realized that something needed to be done in his name, in his favor.

LLS is leading the fight to cure not only blood cancer but all types of cancer. Over 60 percent of therapies funded by LLS are used to assist other types of cancer like; brain, breast, andkidney. They are the largest non-profit dedicated to creating a world without blood cancers. Since their inception in 1949, they have invested more than $1.2 billion in groundbreaking research and have also helped advance nearly every therapy used to treat blood cancers today.

With that said, I hope you feel for those who cannot speak for themselves. With your generous donation, you can help me represent Omar and keep his memory alive by making something horrible end more beautifully for others who get diagnosed with cancer.

Thank you for taking the time in reading this letter and acknowledging that together, we can make a difference.

Thank You,

Hedaia Anayah

I am honored to participate in the 2019 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 proud to be 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(s) 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.