Thank you for all of your amazing donations and support! None of this could be possible without you! 

Hi! My name is Emilia Boggs and I am one of this year's SOY candidates. I am a junior at the National Cathedral School where I enjoy playing for the Varsity Tennis and JV lacrosse teams. Additionally, I enjoy participating in Model UN conferences, leading tours as an NCS Student Ambassador, and volunteering at the Latino Student Fund where I get the opportunity to tutor younger children. Due to my Cuban heritage, I co-founded the Latina Student Union at the beginning of my sophomore year, where I organize speakers, plan cultural events, and raise funds for a variety of issues such as hurricane relief efforts. Outside of school, I am an avid figure skater and I compete both individually and on a synchronized skating team. Finally, I live in Bethesda and am the middle child of two brothers. My passion for the Student-of-the-Year campaign stems from my older brother's role as a team member a few years back, as well as fighting for a cousin and peers who have struggled with blood cancer. These next seven weeks will be filled with challenges and dedication but I am sure that with help from all of you, we can bring awareness and hopefully aid in finding a cure for blood cancers.

I am honored to participate in the 2019 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 be raising critical dollars in honor of a young patient hero who is currently battling or is in remission from 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(s) 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.

Since the early 1960s, five-year survival rates for many blood cancer patients have doubled, tripled or even quadrupled. And many LLS supported therapies not only help blood cancer patients but are helping patients with other cancers and serious diseases. In fact, drugs first approved for blood cancers are now approved to treat patients with stomach cancers, skin cancers, and autoimmune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis.

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.

thanks so much!!! 

- Emilia