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. I am proud to support my candidate and am 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 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.

I am participating in the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society Students of the Year Campaign for many reasons. First, I have lost a grandmother and grandfather to cancer, and, though they were older, I think they could have lived longer lives if there had been more effective treatment. Second, I have seen what advances in cancer treatment did to cure leukemia in a family friend  who is my age. He went through treatment over the past 2 years and is now in remission and enjoying high school. I think it is easy to take our normal daily lives for granted.  Another reason I am glad to  work with the LLS fundraising effort is that I was amazed to hear that one out of every two men and one out of every three women are diagnosed with a cancer in their lifetime.  Therapies aimed at treating blood cancers are now being tested in clinical trials for other cancers, so supporting the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society may have a much broader impact.

Our team has set an aggressive goal of raising $200,000 for the mission of LLS. Please join me in this endeavor by making a meaningful gift to help us reach our goal. It has taken many people to support the work that has been done thus far and will take many more to allow advances in treatment that might even lead to a cure.