Each year, the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) launches its Students of the Year fundraising campaign, and I was honored to join this year’s efforts as the 2019 Student of the Year (SOY) candidate for Team Me and My Gang. I am writing to ask for your support of LLS’s mission in its efforts to find cures for blood cancers and to assist patients and their families as they battle this disease.

Why am I running?

I come from a very benevolent family and have grown up volunteering and fundraising my entire life so, when my parents decided to take this year off fundraising and I learned about SOY, I decided that this was how I was going to give back and make a difference. I have many family and friends with a multitude of health issues. I have watched many of them become warriors and fight their unique battles.

I was specifically drawn to LLS because to date, they have invested more than $1 billion in research aimed at helping blood cancer patients live longer, healthier lives. In the past 24 months, the FDA has approved an incredible 37 cancer treatments and 31 of them were funded by LLS.  Not only does LLS have breakthrough advances in blood cancer research and treatments, their research is also being tested in clinical trials with other cancers such as breast, pancreatic, stomach, prostate, skin and lung and as well as other diseases like diabetes, lupus and rheumatoid arthritis. These are some of the terrible diseases that I have watched my own warriors battle.

I had found my personal mission and purpose through this organization and the SOY campaign. 

The Student of the Year campaign is a philanthropic leadership development program and fundraiser. During the 7-week program, students like me utilize professional skills such as entrepreneurship, marketing and project management in a competition to raise funds for LLS.

From January 7 – February 26, 2019, our team goal is to raise $70,000 which will go directly to LLS in support of its longstanding goal; a world without blood cancers.  If we raise this money by February 26, we can link our team name to an LLS-funded research portfolio to honor our efforts to help people with blood cancers.

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.

Thank you for your support. You are my hero!

Your friend,

Samantha