Zack Kauffman's Fundraising Page
Please join me in supporting The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) by making a donation to my fundraising campaign called Pursuit of Hoppiness.
I have recently formed a charity team. This team lead by CoFounders Ethan Forrest and myself both University of Maryland class of 2021 graduates along with a few other Maryland Graduates (Matt Heid, Luke Gilday, Alex Wood, Jenna Limon, Danielle Sickels, and Cailey Muraca), driven to fund both treatment research for blood cancer cure and support for pediatric care for those afflicted with these cancers. For children diagnosed with cancer, about 40% have blood cancers. Our goals are to reduce toxic therapies, introduce one-on-one support services, and provide financial assistance to these children and their families. Our campaign is called "Pursuit of Hoppiness", and our team has set a goal of raising $ 100,000 over the next few months. The proceeds we raise will go to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (LLS). Charity Events will lead up to our major fundraiser, which will be a Hoppy Hustle Charity Pub Walk located in Navy Yard, Washington, D.C. on October 8th, 2022 from 2:00pm - 5:00pm. This event will be for all ages and have live music, games, and food at a huge outdoor venue right on the Potomac River.
The story behind our campaign began in November 2021, when I noticed onset fatigue and tiredness beginning to set in while intensively training for a marathon. This drastically reduced my training, and I decided to go see my family doctor to get blood work done, thinking it was probably just something small due to overtraining. After leaving the doctor’s office, I went home to rest, only to wake up to too many missed calls from the doctor telling me that I needed to rush immediately to my local emergency center due to highly elevated white blood cells. While in the hospital, I was told that I was diagnosed with Chronic Myeloid Leukemia (CML). Since I knew little about leukemia, except that it was a serious health issue, I was grateful to hear from the Oncologist that although CML is a type of blood cancer, it was an early stage of this leukemia. I can’t thank the University of Maryland Medical Center and the John Hopkins’ staff enough for treating me so professionally, and I am truly blessed by what they do, day-to-day. Also, I have had the best network of friends and family who have reached out during the past few months. After seeing those in less fortunate circumstances and having a tougher battle trying to fight this disease, I wanted to make a difference and help the lives of people who are being impacted or will be impacted in the future. As a result, by pursuing donations, holding events, and establishing a Hoppy Hustle Charity Pub Crawl, we will be able to provide the support that is needed and become one-step closer to an effective cure.
Currently, many LLS-supported therapies not only help blood cancer patients but are now used to treat patients with rare forms of stomach and skin cancers. They’re even being tested in clinical trials for patients with a range of cancers, including lung, brain, breast, pancreatic, and prostate cancers. LLS-funded drugs are now being tested on patients with other non-cancerous diseases like Diabetes, Rheumatoid Arthritis, and Multiple Sclerosis.
LSS’s continued advancements over the years are responsible for blood-cancer survival rates doubling and tripling. In some cases, survival rates have even quadrupled.
We really are changing the face of blood cancer!
All donations are greatly appreciated, are tax deductible, and will not only support LLS research, but patient services, advocacy groups, public and professional education, and community services as well. Please Email us on our website if you prefer to send a check.
https://www.pursuitofhoppiness.co/contact-us