I am honored to be participating in Student of the Year campaign for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, an organization dedicated to funding research to provide treatments and cures for blood cancers. I know a lot of friends and family members that have suffered from blood cancers, other cancers, and other life-altering diseases so I was immediately interested in working with this organization. My grandmother was diagnosed with breast cancer and she is currently fighting Diabetes. I really want to help people like her that are fighting diseases like this. After researching the incredible impact that LLS has had in the fight against cancer, I knew that this was a great opportunity to support a worthy cause.

Along with some of my friends from Huntington Beach High School, we came together to form our team, 6LPH. We chose the name 6LPH because it stands for 6 lives per hour, the devastating rate of people in the United States that die due to blood cancer every day. During our 7 week fundraising campaign from February 9th to March 29th, we are aiming to raise $50,000 dollars. If we reach this goal, we are able to align our team name with a portfolio that focuses on a specific area of research that is meaningful to our team.

LLS has already proven to be an extremely impactful force in the fight against cancer. Since 1949, LLS has invested nearly $1.3 billion in blood cancer research, which has directly lead to 46 of the 53 new FDA approved treatments in just the last 3 years alone! Additionally, LLS funded research is not limited to blood cancers. These treatments have also been used to combat other cancers like Breast, Lung, & Prostate cancers and diseases like Diabetes, MS, and Alzhiemer’s. 

Since LLS is such a worthy cause, I am asking you to make a donation to our team either through this fundrasing page or by mailing a check payable to The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society with my name, James Downs, as the memo.

Our group is dedicated to ending the fight against cancer. We hope you will support us in the fight. Thank you for your generosity!