Thank you for supporting my candidacy for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s Student of the Year. The donation you will be making today is going toward cutting-edge research as well as blood cancer patient assistance and education.

I am dedicating your donation to the memory of my friend, Emily Neufeld, who was diagnosed with Lymphoma and passed away at the young age of 17. She was strong, athletic, resilient, tough, and beautiful.  Emily was a fighter. Her doctors would later say, that they have never seen anyone fight so hard.

When I saw a father and a mother burry their child, when I saw siblings burry their oldest sister, who I have known my entire life, the pain, tore a hole in my heart. It was hard for me to find hope. Emily was gone.

Had it not been for cancer extinguishing this beautiful life, Emily might have matured to become a professional athlete who would have competed, an author who would have written, an inventor who would have created, a teacher who would have taught, a parent who would have loved, or a leader who would have solved big problems ------- but she won’t.

I made a choice then and there to embrace the pain of losing my friend, to find hope and to use that hope to raise funds for cancer research that will reduce the number of young lives extinguished far too soon, so we can (all) enjoy their powerful presence.

I have set a goal to raise $50,000 for cancer research for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (LLS), a non-profit organization that has made a positive impact on blood cancer patients and their families for the last 70 years. In the last two years, 33 out of 38 FDA approved blood cancer treatments received funding from them. The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society is making a real difference in the fight against cancer, and they need our help.

Sadly, more than one third of blood cancer patients like Emily do not survive five years after diagnosis. We must do something about it. WE MUST CURE CANCER!

I'm stepping up and I need you to do the same. Help me honor the memory of Emily, join me and let’s change the future. Together we can save lives. Together we can hope.

The donation you are making today is greatly appreciated and is tax deductible.

On behalf of blood cancer patients everywhere and on behalf of all of us that hope - thank you for your generosity and support.