Hello All!

Thank you so much for taking the time out of your day to visit my fundraising page. I would like to first introduce myself and answer the big, important question of WHY. 

My name is Vera Korff and I am a junior at James Madison High School in the DC area. I am an average student, an athlete. I am a daughter, sister, and friend. I have not had any immediate relatives or close friends with Leukemia or Lymphoma. So why, you might ask, am I participating in this fundraiser?

The sad truth is, I am very lucky not to have lost anyone to any of these deadly diseases. Hundreds, thousands, millions of people suffer every day because of Leukemia or Lymphoma. My team’s candidate lost their great grandmother and great aunt, and one of my close family friends lost a cousin due to blood cancer. My team candidate, my family friend, their loved ones, they are all ordinary people -- and that is one of the things that makes these cancers so terrifying. It can happen to anybody, as long as you have the mutated DNA that causes it. Whether you are a daughter, son, grandfather, grandmother, or parent, cancer does not discriminate. It will take anyone it wants without mercy. 

So if you were to ask why I participate in this fundraiser, I would say this. I want to help ease the suffering of families who have lost loved ones to this terrible disease. I want to help make a world where parents don't have to let go of their children, and children don't have to grow up missing the love and guidance of a mother and father. 

The research that LLS funds can help me reach that goal. You can help me reach that goal. So please, if even just a little bit, reach your hand out and lend your support to the people struggling because of these cancers. Please help fund the important research that can save them. Help me build a safer, happier world.

I have signed up to save lives with the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) and am working to raise as much as possible over the next 7 weeks. Every dollar raised counts as one vote for my campaign. The candidate(s) whose team tallies the most votes earns the prestigious title of Student or Students of the Year. Will you help me earn that title?
 
As you know, everyone wins when cancer loses. Thanks to your support, my efforts will help fund therapies and treatments that are saving lives. Over the years, support from people like you has been responsible for the blood cancer advancements that have doubled, tripled, and in some cases quadrupled the survival rate for some blood cancers.
 
Many LLS-supported therapies not only help blood cancer patients but are also now used to treat patients with rare forms of stomach and skin cancers and are in clinical trials for patients with lung, brain, breast, pancreatic and prostate cancers. And LLS-funded drugs like targeted therapies and immunotherapies are now saving thousands of lives every day.
 
We really are getting close to our goal of a world without blood cancers!
 
All donations are greatly appreciated and tax-deductible. They'll not only support LLS research, but patient services, advocacy, public and professional education, and community services as well.
 
Please visit my website often and tell 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