My name is Lauren Young, and I am participating as a team member on Team Knights to the Rescue in the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's 2022 Students of the Year Campaign. The Students of the Year Campaign is a fundraising competition in which students across Maryland compete to raise the most money to fund the cure against blood cancers. Our team's goal is $50,000, and reaching the goal would allow us to fund a research project for a cancer of our choice. All donations will not only support LLS-funded research, but will help provide critical information for patients and support advocacy for laws to ensure that patients can get access to the care and treatments they need. LLS has helped advance more than 85% of the FDA-approved blood cancer treatments since 2017 and funded more than 60% of the blood cancer therapies being used to treat other cancers, but the fight is not over. Sadly, every 3 minutes, someone in the U.S. is diagnosed with blood cancer, and every 9 minutes, someone loses their battle. Working on this team has inspired me as there are so many teens in our local community that are passionate about finding the cure for blood cancers, but it has also saddened me. The realization that every team member has a personal connection to cancer has motivated me to work more diligently in this campaign. 

I became a team member to honor my grand-da. He battled multiple myeloma for nearly 2 years and succumbed to the disease when I was ten years old. I also am honoring my great-grandmother who passed from Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma when I was a toddler. Working on this team has made me realize that cancer unfortunately touches all of us. I hope someday the funds raised for blood cancer research will help find a cure for all cancers. Thanks in advance for your donations and generosity! Feel free to share my fundraising page!