My name is Angela Panikiewsky. I am a sophomore at Westfield High School, and I swim for both the high school and the Fanwood Scotch Plains YMCA teams. I also enjoy playing soccer in the spring and fall and I am in the school orchestra.

Eight years ago, my mom was affected by brain cancer. Not only did it affect my mom, it affected my dad and our entire extended family. My brother and I were very young, so it was very difficult time in our lives. Thanks to all the amazing treatments that were available, my mom is a survivor. I firmly believe that no family should have to experience what our family did.

I am honored to participate as a team member of the Westfield Warriors for the 2019 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 be a 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.

I am very excited to start this campaign along with my teamates. The Westfield Warriors includes myself, my parents, my brother Richie, my Aunt G, my cousin Sofia, and my friends Emily, Jade, and Rebecca. Sofia was a 2018 candidate, so she inspired me to participate in 2019, and I am especially honored that she is now apart of my team.

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 so much for your support!

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