Hello Everyone!

If you are anything like me, you may not personally have a tie to cancer within your friends or family. You may not feel obligated to donate and just click off. Don't worry, about a month ago I would have done that too. Although this cause has come to light for me, and hopefully it will for you too. 

Imagine waking up to unknown bruises all over your weak, pale body. Imagine trying to stand up and walk, but being too weak to do so. Imagine being in such excruciating pain and experiencing severe exhaustion that you cannot bear to do anything with anyone, much less speak. This is blood cancer. As you are reading this, 1.2 million Americans are currently battling or are in remission from blood cancers, and every three minutes another person is forced into the fight. I personally cannot imagine the amount of pain this sickness enduces, I freak out over a cold. There are so many people are suffering daily, and the fact that we can do something about it should be enough to persuade you. I am honored to be participating in The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s (LLS) 2020 Students of the Year (SOY) campaign, a seven-week initiative in which high school students from around the country are nominated to participate in a fundraising competition to benefit LLS’s mission: to find a cure for leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin’s disease and myeloma, and to improve the quality of life of patients and their families.

I am raising funds in honor of those who are currently battling or are in remission from a blood cancer. Each dollar is a vote and the team that raises the most money at the end of the seven weeks is named Students of the Year. As a team, 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.

We are changing the face of blood cancer! We need your help!

Because of campaigns like Students of the Year, LLS has seen tremendous success discovering new and more effective treatments for blood cancer patients and has created a new exciting initiative focusing on treatments for pediatric patients.

• LLS funded 43 of the 49 FDA approved treatments for blood cancer patients since 2017
• Since 2000, more than 40% of the new cancer therapies approved by the FDA started as blood cancer research
• In 2019, LLS established The LLS Children’s Initiative, a comprehensive $50 MILLION multi-year endeavor, to help children with cancer through every facet of LLS’s mission:
  • More than doubling our investment in pediatric cancer research grants
  • Expanding education and support service for children and their families
  • Advocating for and driving policies to accelerate the development of new treatments and break down barriers to care
  • Launching LLS PedAL (Pediatric Acute Leukemia), a groundbreaking global precision medicine clinical trial in acute pediatric leukemia

And many LLS supported therapies not only help blood cancer patients but are now used to treat patients with rare forms of stomach and skin cancers. They're even being tested in clinical trials for patients with a range of cancers including lung, brain, breast, pancreatic and prostate cancers. LLS funded drugs are now being tested for patients with other non-cancerous diseases like Diabetes, Rheumatoid Arthritis and Multiple Sclerosis.

Please join me in supporting my campaign and LLS by making a donation to my fundraising campaign. Thanks to your support, my efforts, will help fund the therapies and treatments and help save lives today.

LLS's continued advancements over the years, are responsible for the blood cancer survival rate doubling and tripling; in some cases, the survival rate has even quadrupled.

All donations are greatly appreciated and are tax deductible. With your donation, you’re not only support LLS research but patient services, advocacy, public and professional education, and community services as well. Together WE CAN FIND A CURE!  No donation is too small. Any donation would be greatly appreciated, plus it can boost some good karma! If you are unable to donate, that is completely understandable! There are so many other ways to help, from sharing this post, to raising awareness in your family or community (maybe they will donate!), to even sharing to us what you have to say! EVERYTHING is welcomed to help this fight. 

Please visit my fundraising webpage(s) often and pass along the link to family, friends, neighbors, colleagues, etc. who might donate!  I recognize I need lots of support to reach my fundraising goal!

On behalf of blood cancer patients everywhere I thank you for your support!!

For more information about LLS, please visit www.lls.org