Hey, 

My name is Siri Mandava, a junior from Johnston High School. I was nominated to run a Students of the Year campaign for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and to raise funds to help find a cure for blood cancer. I accepted this challenge since I lost her beloved teacher Madhavi Kapur due to cancer. I am partnering with my friends from Johnston and Waukee to build a diverse team. We are working together to bring awareness about blood cancer and raise as many funds as we can. The campaign starts on January 16th, 2020 and ends on March 5th, 2020.

My teacher, Madhavi Kapur is known as Adi by other students and colleagues passed away due to Ovarian Cancer on June 3, 2016. She is the founder of Aman Setu, a  school that aspires to teach students to love to learn and more importantly teaches them skills that are useful for the rest of their lives. She loved kids, and lives on in many lives she touched. Adi was my role model and continues to be. Although her death deeply pains me, it also motivates me to fight so that others don’t go through the same pain. I strive to help fight cancer and spread awareness globally with my team. 

Our honored hero this year is Lucy Almeida from Grimes. We had the pleasure of meeting her this year. She is strong, funny, brave, and a great leader. Lucy was 18 months old when she was diagnosed with B-Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia on November 8. Lucy immediately began treatment, including 8 days at Blank Children’s hospital. Her treatment plan is at least 2.5 years, including multiple hospital admittances, spinal procedures, chemotherapy treatments, steroids, etc. as she works to beat this awful disease. Even with all this pain, she maintains her high spirit, her grit gives all of us motivation to fight more for this cause.

Every 3 minutes a person is diagnosed with blood cancer and every 9 minutes a person dies due to blood cancer. Every 3 minutes a person’s life is changed dramatically because of their diagnosis and so does the lives of the people around them. All the money we raise will help the research, blood cancer patients and their families with many costs that have come up with this illness, such as hospital bills, travel, meals, missing work, and treatments/medications that aren’t covered by insurance. The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society strives to fight this, and so do we as a team. Let’s do this together, let’s fight cancer together!