A few months ago a karate friend lost her 14-month-old cousin, Eliana, to Leukemia. I had been following Baby Eliana’s Facebook page for months and even though I never knew her, every smile that was shared brought a little light into my life. Team Hope wishes to carry her spirit and story in our hearts as we fundraise. 

What I’ve learned through working with LLS and my community, is that these diseases touch everyone. So many people have their own stories and carry their own burdens.

This is why I have decided to join LLS’ fight. Baby Eliana’s life should not have ended so early, but if there’s anything she taught me, it’s that hope is more powerful than any disease. This inspired my fundraising team’s name: Team Hope. 

Everything that is done in this world is done by hope. - Martin Luther

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.