Hello Peers, 

My name is Nura Sinan, and I lost my brother Omar to Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) 4 months ago, which is the reason for my letter. I am currently a sophomore at Monte Vista High School in the East Bay, and I am 1 of 17 students selected to participate in the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (LLS), Students of the Year (SOY) program. SOY is a 7-week philanthropic leadership campaign to raise money for cancer research and advanced therapies. Given my family's experience with blood cancer, SOY is extremely close to my heart. Omar was diagnosed with ALL Leukemia (a type of blood cancer) at the young age of 3 years old. At age 11, he relapsed and beat it a second time. Last June, he was diagnosed with AML, and after fighting for several months, he passed away in September. AML is a hard cancer to fight. It has less treatment options than any other cancer, and the five-year survival rate is 26 percent. Every three minutes someone is diagnosed with a blood cancer, every nine minutes someone dies, and I want to help in the effort to put an end to this. My goal is to raise $100,000 in the fight for Omar, and families like ours that have been impacted by this horrific disease.

Omar was a loving, strong, beautiful person inside and out. He never complained, and was great at making an unpleasant situation fun. For more than a year he received daily shots at home and after every shot, he enjoyed getting colorful band aids and putting on the wall. These Band-Aids gave him a sense of pride to his strength and courage, almost like badges of honor.

Hearing the words “your brother has cancer” not only once but three times is gut-wrenching and something I hope no sibling has to hear. In honor of my brother, I made a promise to myself that I will make something that has been very unpleasant, his death, into something beautiful. Omar made me a better person, and he is the reason I decided to participate in SOY so I could help stop others from the suffering and pain caused by cancer.

LLS is at the forefront of the fight to cure not only blood cancer but cancers of all types. Over 60 percent of therapies funded by LLS are used to help other types of cancer like; brain, breast, kidney and more. 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.

There a few ways you help me in reaching my goal:

1.    Make a tax-deductible donation through my personal fundraising page: https://events.lls.org/gba/bayareasoy19/nsinan

2.    If you prefer to mail a check, please make it out to “LLS with my name/Team Omar in the memo line and send to:

ATTN:

Caleigh Bemont

101 Montgomery St. Suite 750

San Francisco CA 94104

3.    Share my message & fundraising link with your contacts through email and/or social media

I hope that with your generous donation you can help me keep my promise and keep Omar’s memory alive by making something horrible end more beautifully for others who get diagnosed with cancer. Together we can change the world!

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.