Hello!

Duncan Glew, at your service. I'm fifteen years old. In November, 2012, I was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Here I am, three years later, near the end of my 3.5-year-long treatment. A lot has changed since my diagnosis. I moved here, to Philly, from Seattle; I've become familiar with a variety of chemotherapies; I've watched all three Star Wars trailers a couple thousand times; I've made a bunch of new friends; and, thanks to the cancer, I gained a new appreciation for life and all the little things we too often take for granted.

One of my chemotherapies severely damaged my knees. Now, I can no longer run, jump, or do many activities of a normal kid's daily life. We need new cancer treatments that harm only the cancer cells, not the rest of the body as well. The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (LLS) is funding cutting-edge researchers who are working towards these targeted treatments, such as Dr. Carl June, whose work is documented in this video.

In Seattle, I became involved with the LLS through the original Big Climb. It has been happening for 30 years now. Big Climb Seattle is immensely successful; this past year, it raised over 5 million dollars. My school in Seattle competed in and won the fundraising portion of the Big Climb during the year I was diagnosed. The next year, my brother and I participated in the event, and this past year, Seattle's LLS group asked me to be a 2015 Big Climb honoree. I happily agreed and wanted to do as much as I could to help. Then, we moved to Philly. It was a little difficult to help out with Big Climb Seattle when I was living 2,500 miles away.

So, I came up with another idea: to bring a Big Climb to Philadelphia. Over the past year, my family and I have been working with the awesome LLS of Eastern Pennsylvania and the super helpful folks at Comcast to start a Big Climb in the Comcast Center. And it worked!

I am incredibly grateful for all the work that Comcast and the LLS have done to make my idea a reality. A huge thanks to Comcast for being so cooperative and open to this idea! The LLS, namely my friends Hannah Reagan, Katie Freind, Greg Seitter, Ellen Rubesin, and Emily Fiore, have also been instrumental in making Big Climb Philly happen. I couldn't be more grateful for their support and leadership.

The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society is a great organization serving a noble cause: to cure blood cancers. Leukemia is the most common childhood cancer. No one, let alone a kid, should have to go through the long and painful cancer treatment that I experienced. The innovative research the LLS is funding could eventually cure not only blood cancers, but many other cancers as well.

I hope you will join me in the fight against cancer by donating to my Big Climb effort. Remember that every dollar counts! Thank you so much for your time and consideration.