I am honored to participate as a canidate for the 2020 Students of the Year program, a seven-week initiative in which select high school students from around the country participate in a fundraising competition to benefit The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. I am proud to support my candidate and am raising critical dollars in honor of a young patient hero who is currently battling or is in remission from a blood cancer. Each dollar is a vote. The candidate team that raises the most money at the end of the seven weeks is named Student of the Year. Our mission is to not only raise the most money but also to bring attention to blood cancers like leukemia, which is the most common form of cancer in children and teens.

The mission of LLS hits home for me, as you may know. At 14, I was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma. After 8 months of treatment I was declared cancer free. However, 2 months post treatment I developed a chronic bone condition called Avascular Necrosis (AVN). AVN led me to have hip reconstruction surgery in 2017, which ultimately failed, leading to a total hip replacement in November 2018. Also, my dad was recently diagnosed with throat cancer and is just finishing his treatment and my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer 5 years ago. Cancer has hit our family hard, but we’ve chosen to do something positive by helping to fund the fight against cancer and support others during their journey.
 

I have witnessed first hand the debilitating effects that leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin’s Lymphoma and myeloma can have on those who suffer from these blood cancers, and on the friends and family who care for and nurture their loved ones.  In fact, leukemia still causes more deaths than any other cancer among children under the age of 20.
 

Since the early 1960s, five-year survival rates for many blood cancer patients have doubled, tripled or even quadrupled. And many LLS supported therapies not only help blood cancer patients but are helping patients with other cancers and serious diseases. In fact, drugs first approved for blood cancers are now approved to treat patients with stomach cancers, skin cancers, and autoimmune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis.

We really are changing the face of blood cancer!

All donations are greatly appreciated and are tax deductible. They'll not only support LLS-funded research but will help provide critical information and support for patients, and support advocacy for laws to ensure patients can access the care and treatments they need.

Please visit our website often and bring friends who would also like to donate!

On behalf of blood cancer patients everywhere, thank you for your support!

For more information about LLS, please visit www.lls.org.