"Go Maripaz and TEAM VALOR!" Your kindness, support, and love is saving lives. I know that by this time I will probably be close to you in spirit, I am sorry I could not make it to this day, God had already a plan for me and from heaven I am smiling and celebrating you; so here is my support to your wonderful efforts toward this campaign. I Love you forever my "Princesita Valiente", Mi orgullo por siempre, Mi Nieta Maripaz! Grandpa Nono Isaias. 

Dear family and friends,

When I was five years old I was diagnosed with a type of blood cancer called Leukemia. As a small child it was hard for me to understand what was happening and I was afraid and anxious. Still I had my family and friends by my side to comfort me and give their support. After two years of battling with Leukemia in summer 2011 I was cancer free and a “No more chemo” day was celebrated. It was a joyous celebration, my grandparents from  overseas came and so did my dear friends The Flores. 

Sadly in December of 2011 I had a relapse. It was very difficult and I felt devastated. I didn’t want to go through that again. Once more, my family and friends stayed by me and gave me all their love and support. In March 2012 I had the opportunity  of getting a bone marrow transplant from two umbilical cords from twins. Today, after 8 years I am in full remission, healthy and living a normal life of a high schooler who enjoys playing the cello and singing.  I am happy to be alive. With all the support of  my family and friends and the LLS, I am able to be here today. 

I was chosen to be  a candidate to participate in the Dallas student of the year campaign along with other teams for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s (LLS) 2021. TEAM VALOR is my team and  I am honored to be part of this amazing cause. I am writing today to ask you  for your support in my efforts to help LLS in its mission to ensure access to cures and treatments for blood cancers. 

While childhood leukemia has the highest cure rate of any blood cancer, it is also still the number-one disease killer among children under the age of 20. This needs to change. We can come together with the LLS and find a cure. United with love and empathy, we can be a mighty force of change. 

Here is how you can be part of the cure…

My campaign to be the Student of the Year is all about dollars raised and I am asking you today to join me in this ambitious campaign. I have until February 27th  to reach my goal of raising $12,000. I’ve enclosed a donation form and envelope to make it easy for you to send your tax-deductible contribution (payable to The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, with my name in the memo). Or, if you prefer, you can go to my campaign website and make your contribution there. The contributions needs to be done only from January 9th/2021 to February 27th 2021  https://events.lls.org/ntx/SOYNTX21/mcorredorq

Your donation will prevent someone from losing a child, sibling, parent or loved one, and allow LLS to continue funding lifesaving research.  Learn more about LLS and its mission at www.lls.org

Please reach out to others  and ask them to contribute as well. I have found that so many of the people I talk to about my campaign have a connection to blood cancer and want to support LLS. 

I want to thank you in advance for your generous support. I also wanted to say that I know times are hard now and it has not been easy, but we can all be the light in this dark time. 

This fundraiser is in honor of my Uncle Samuel, Uncle Isidro and Nono Isaias, my grandfather.  

Sincerely,

Maripaz Corredor-Quintero, Student of the Year campaign for 2021

PS: Make your donation go further and check to see if your company matches donations! www.matchinggifts.com/lls 

Today we had our SOY Workshop and it was a lot of fun to learn from past canidates and learn from them. It was a very fun and engaging workshop. A very big thanks to the mentors, past canidates and managers and to everyone for your teachings and support.