Hi! Welcome to Pauline Kopasz-Gemmen's fundraising page! I am so excited to say that The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) has nominated me to join their 9th annual Students Visionaries of the Year fundraising challenge, and I could not be more ready to make a difference in the lives of patients across the country. I formed "Team Discovery " alongside my classmates and friends Katie King (YHS '24) and Piper O'Connor (NCS '24). We have set our fundraising goal at $25,000 and I need your help in achieving that, it is no small task!

Students of the Year is a seven week-long campaign from January 7 to February 25th in which high school students across the nation raise as much money as they can to support patient care, supplies, and innovative research and technology to discover better treatment and hopefully a cure to blood cancers! All donations will go directly towards LLS's mission to find cures for leukemia, lymphoma, myeloma, Hodgkin's disease, and to improve the quality of life for cancer patients and their families. Several blood cancer therapies are now being used in clinical trials with other cancers and diseases such as multiple sclerosis and diabetes, with LLS funding 53 of 62 FDA approved treatments since 2017. LLS has invested over $1.3 billion in research since its founding in 1949.

My grandmother worked in the field of hematology but also lived with Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia and Metastatic Breast cancer, passing away this past September of 2022. She was kind, social, intelligent, and most importantly loved her family very much. I would do anything to spend more time with her. But the fight aginst cancer isn't over. Approximately every 3 minutes, one person in the US is diagnosed with leukemia, lymphoma or myeloma. I joined the LLS Student Visionaries of the Year campaign to honor my grandmother and have an impact on other families so they can spend more time with their loved ones. 

I also accepted LLS' fundraising challenge in support of the Northern Virginia chapter's local hero, Drew Snapkoski, who was 5 years old when he was diagnosed with a rare form of leukemia. 

Please join me in supporting my campaign and LLS by making a donation to my fundraiser (that takes just a couple clicks on the left side of this page). Thanks to your support, my efforts will help fund the therapies and treatments crucial in helping save lives today.

If you would prefer to mail your donation, please make your check payable to The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society and print “SVOY-Pauline K-G” in the “Memo” section. The deadline for receiving contributions is February 25th. Donations of ANY amount are greatly appreciated and are tax-deductible. 

Please visit my fundraising webpage as often as you can and share the link to family, friends, neighbors, colleagues, etc. who may donate!

On behalf of blood cancer patients everywhere I thank you for your support, and I hope you have a great day!