I am honored to support 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 became involved in wanting to bring awareness to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society because a close friend and role model of mine, Liza Angelicchio passed away from leukemia. Liza was a graduate from New Palestine in 2008. She then went to Morehead State to pursue her education. In December of 2012, just one semester shy of receiving her college diploma her whole life changed when she was diagnosed with leukemia. She went through several rounds of radiation and countless amounts of medication. She spent the next two years of her life mostly in the hospital, until she was deemed cancer free after receiving a bone marrow transplant. Although she was never back to her normal self and often had to carry around an oxygen tank with her on a day to day basis, she was able to go back to college to finish her studies, graduate and then be hired by the Be The Match organization. In July of 2016, after contracting a virus that her body could not fight off, she gained her angel wings. To this day I strive to be as inspiring and optimistic as she was even when she was battling such a horrible disease. She turned what was a terrifying diagnosis into her life’s passion in becoming an advocate for finding a cure.

Each dollar is a vote. The candidate team that raises the most money at the end of the seven weeks is named Student 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.