Team Raison Dêtre 

A Reason to Live

Dear Friends and Family,

I am incredibly honored and privileged to announce that I was nominated to participate in The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's Student Visionaries of the Year campaign. On January 18th, 2024, we will kick off a 7-week campaign, ending on March 9th, 2024. The campaign includes raising life-saving funds to fund cancer treatments, research, and valuable support for patients and families, all of which are part of LLS's mission to find a cure for blood cancer!

Student Visionaries of the Year is a national 7-week fundraising competition in support of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. The student who raises the most funds at the end of the 7 weeks will get the Rocky Mountain Student Visionary of the Year title. Leukemia is the #1 most diagnosed form of childhood cancer and the second leading cause of cancer deaths among children and adolescents. Over the last six years, The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (LLS) has helped advance 70% of the over 110 FDA-approved blood cancer treatment options. 

When I was 5, my brother, McCormick, got diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes. My family spent one week with him at the hospital while they stabilized his sugar and got him engaged in a research study to create an artificial/automated pancreas. During my time there, I noticed children my age and even younger who were without hair, had lots of tubes and needles, were too weak to walk, and were being wheeled around the corridors and cafeteria of the Children's Hospital. At the time, my 5-year-old mind asked my mother, "What happened to them?" I wondered why those children had to be there while I got to be at home. She told me, "They probably have Cancer." In 2020, I spent a week at Children's Hospital after spinal surgery. During my week at the hospital, I encountered children who looked just like those I had seen when my brother was there. These children were suffering from the treatment being administered to cure their Cancer. It seemed to me that their pain was not just from what the disease inflicted upon them but also from the medical efforts seeking to cure it. I wondered if, in time, they would find more accessible means of ridding children of Leukemia and Lymphoma. The sadness that Cancer impinges on a childhood is heartbreaking. However, with LLS, this does not need to be the reality. Working with LLS, I found a way I could help and encourage others to contribute to the research necessary to prevent and cure blood cancers. It takes people willing to donate funds and time to make a researcher's dreams a reality, not unlike when my brother volunteered his time and body to Juvenile Diabetes research. 

My team name is Raison Dêtre, a French phrase meaning "a reason to live." Within the journey of Cancer, there can be very depressing and hopeless times, and Raison Dêtre is a reminder that there is hope. Even through the most challenging treatments and operations, there is still hope. Hope is unending, and I believe the Leukemia Lymphoma Society is a true vessel of hope for blood cancers with a significant impact that has stood the test of time since 1949. LLS won't give up on finding a cure for Cancer, nor will I. In the meantime, LLS is continuously discovering better and more accessible approaches to support and care for people. They need our help to continue their mission. Together, we can provide hope with generous donations and ultimately save lives.

To get more information, make a donation, become a corporate sponsor, or buy tickets to the event don't hesitate to get in touch with me via email at marythoyt@icloud.com.

Thank you in advance for your time, consideration, and suppirt of the mission of LLS.

Mary-Therese Hoyt

(303)916-1826

marythoyt@icloud.com

Team Members 

Olivia Gonzales

Samantha Streeter

Grace Dummar

Brecken Schaefer

Brice Aguilar

Rianne Blumenthal

Hayden Engesser

Lydia Hawkins

Rhyson Johnston

Campaign Manager

Josephine Schott