I am honored to participate as a team member for the 2020 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. This campaign is very close to my heart because my great aunt Patti passed away three years ago from multiple myeloma. She was always the happiest person in the room and would always be there with her little red digital camera to capture every moment she possibly could. Every Christmas, Easter, Fourth of July, Yuletide Celebration (even though you aren’t supposed to take pictures), and trip to Joanne Fabrics was stored on that little red camera. She would always joke that her dream job would be to move to Fishers and become my sister and I’s bus driver so she could see us before and after school every day. She always wanted to see my sister and I graduate from high school and as I’m nearing the end of my high school career, the only way I can feel like I have her with me the day I graduate is by doing something to honor her memory by. I’m participating in this campaign to honor my great aunt and to prevent other families from losing their family picture taker while being able to be a part of something that is bigger than myself.

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.