Dear Friends and Family,

Two years ago my sister, Addison helped fundraise for our family friend and neighbor, Rob Hope, in an effort to help him win The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (LLS) “Man of the Year” title. If you have been lucky enough to meet Mr. Hope, you would know he is totally deserving of that award. Not only is he a cancer survivor but he may be the nicest person I’ve ever met. It was so easy for my sister and parents to do anything to help him win!  Over the course of his 10-week campaign he and his team (my family included) raised $647,000, which was not only the most funds raised by a man in Charlotte, but it was the most funds raised by a man in the entire country!  Knowing Mr. Hope personally and seeing him win was extra special for my family because they had all worked so hard. However, it also made me wish I had a bigger part of helping him during his campaign.  It was so amazing to see the overwhelming amount of people who supported him, his campaign, my family and ultimately LLS.  It was also during that time that I learned first hand about the impact of "giving" and I that I, too, could and should help raise money for a charitable cause one day.  Looking back, I wasn’t sure an opportunity would ever present itself, but I knew that seeing Mr. Hope win would leave a lasting impression on me.  And it did. 

Fast foward to 2020. A couple of weeks ago my football teammate and fellow student at Charlotte Latin School, Aaron Logan, reached out to my family sharing details of his nomination for the LLS Student of the Year campaign.  I wondered if this was just like Mr. Hope’s campaign only for students.  I quickly found out it was.  At the time, Aaron didn’t know how involved my family had been with LLS just a few short years ago.  Aaron initially hoped we would just be willing to hear him out and help in some capacity.  We set up a zoom call and by the end of our conversation I was the newest member of Aaron’s team called "LLSteele."  Obviously, sharing with you what I just did, and the fact that Aaron is “one of my boys,” it made it a no brainer for me to join Aaron’s team. As I continued to think about what this second chance to raise money for LLS meant to me, I just kept going back to wanting to help everyone I know that has had cancer, including my own Dad.  I kept reminding myself how I'd wanted to give back since the last campaign.  I thought about everyone fighting cancer today.  I thought about my 9th grade classmate at Charlotte Latin who was recently in CA receiving a clinical trial that I had just learned was funded by LLS through campaigns like these!  And in that moment it all clicked for me--this is where all this money goes.  It actually helps real cancer patients.  My time to make a difference was now and I was so excited to get started. 

I want to save our fathers and mothers, our sisters and brothers, our classmates and neighbors from all the terrible cancers out there. Can you help me by considering a donation to The Leukemia Lymphoma Society (LLS) in support of Aaron and our "Team LLSteele?"  I promise you we will all be forever grateful.

  Thank you for your consideration.  I can't wait to see what we can accomplish together during these next 7 weeks!

Neil Joseph Salvage III

(Me - #22, Aaron - #5)