I am fundraising in memory of Kory Coates. Kory was born in Fort Washington, MD and lived with his parents, stepbrother, sister and three nieces. He attended Oxon Hill High School as a junior where he was majoring in the STEM program. Kory was diagnosed on January 4, 2017 with Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) unknowingly having experienced a minor stroke on his left side a week prior. On this day, the Coates family’s world turned upside down. Kory's treatment was successful, but on August 26th, he relapsed after being in remission for almost 2 years. He was undergoing a series of chemo treatments and received a bone marrow transplant at Children’s National Hospital in Washington, DC. Kory continued his classes this school year as a junior. On December 9th, 2020, 6 months after receiving a bone marrow transplant, our brave honored hero, passed away at just 15 years old after a long battle with AML.  

My name is Erin Howard, and I am currently attending T.C. Williams High School as a junior. I play travel soccer for my city and swim, play field hockey and softball for T.C. I play clarinet in the T.C. Williams Wind Ensemble and am engaged in many club activities at my school. I am enrolled in the Governo'rs Heath Science Academy at T.C., which is partnered with George Washington University. I am currently enrolled in the Emergency Medicine track, and plan to continue to study Emegency Medicine in college.

I am participating in the 2021 Students of the Year (SOY) campaign as a team member of Team No Bad Blood, along with my mother, Gail Howard, who is my parent partner. I have personally been touched by cancer because it has affected my family and friends. During the past three generations, 19 family members have been diagnosed with different types of cancer and unfortunately, many have passed away after losing their battle with this pervasive disease. More recently, my best friend's mom was diagnosed with cancer as well. After undergoing radiation and treatment, she won her battle and is currently in remission. Watching how cancer affects a family or person breaks my heart and I want to do everything in my power to decrease the number of people that have to feel that pain.

Welcome! Thank you for visiting my fundraising page.

I encourage you to join me in supporting The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) by making a donation to my fundraising campaign. By donating to LLS, you support the many facets of LLS’s mission work from investing in groundbreaking research, providing education and support to patients, and advocating at the state and federal level for legislation to help those living with cancer. My appreciation for your support cannot be overstated — each and every dollar donated to LLS brings us closer to our goal to end blood cancer and makes an impact for cancer patients and their families.

As a global leader in the fight to end cancer, LLS is committed to doing more for blood cancer patients and families than any organization in the world. LLS’s signature fundraising campaigns drive critical support for its mission, including a nearly $1.3 billion investment in cutting edge cancer research worldwide since it was founded in 1949. Since the 1960s, survival rates for many blood cancer patients have doubled, tripled, or even quadrupled.

Every facet of LLS’s mission – research, education and support, and policy and advocacy – work in harmony to put blood cancer patients and their families first. LLS has helped millions impacted by cancer throughout its more than 70-year history, even funding breakthrough blood cancer research to advance lifesaving treatments and cures that is now helping patients with other cancers and diseases. That is why at LLS we say that beating cancer is in our blood.

Please visit my website as often as you can and share it with everyone you know who would also like to join us in the fight against cancer. Together, we have the power, the passion and the resolve to achieve a world without blood cancer. All donations are tax-deductible.

On behalf of cancer patients and their families everywhere, I sincerely thank you for your support!

For more information about LLS, please visit lls.org

LET'S BEAT CANCER TOGETHER!

with love,

Erin