Hi! My name is Ryan Bonanno. I am honored to participate as a team member for the 2020 Students of the Year program, a philanthropic leadership development program in which select high school students from around the country participate in a fundraising competition to benefit The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

Did you know that blood cancer research leads the way to treatments for other types of cancers? In fact, drugs first approved for blood cancers are now approved to treat patients with many types of cancer including stomach, breast, brain and lung cancer as well as autoimmune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis and multiple sclerosis.

I am fundraising in memory of my grandfather, Charlie Bonanno, who passed away from liver cancer when I was 3 years old. He loved to call me “Mr. R” and I inherited his mother’s red hair. A blood cancer drug supported by LLS Research is currently in trials to treat liver cancer. I hope that my fundraising efforts will help lead to a cure for blood cancer as well as other cancers so that no one else has to miss a loved one gone too soon.

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.

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.

We really are changing the face of blood cancer!

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.