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 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(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.

I first heard about LLS from my sister, Olivia, who is an Osteosarcoma survivor herself who was inspired to help LLS in last year’s fundraising. Although Osteosarcoma is a bone and not blood cancer, her fight showed me the need to raise awareness and money for all types of cancer. Leukemia in particular, has also touched my family when my younger cousin was diagnosed at the age of two. Thankfully, he is very happy and healthy today, but this experience still served as a wakeup call to my family. So when I heard from my friend, Charlotte, that she was looking for students to join the LLS group she created after losing a close family friend to Leukemia, I was excited to get involved with the cause!

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.