My name is Sarina Oshiro, and I'm an 11th grader at Westview High School in San Diego, California. Alongside my classmate and good friend Melody Chu, I have been nominated to lead a fundraising team "Cancel Cancer" for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s (LLS) Students of the Year campaign! This campaign is 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. The candidate team that raises the most money at the end of the seven weeks is named Student of the Year!

I am so thrilled to be part of this initiative, in part, because I have a deep personal connection to the cause. In 2009, my Aunt Cathy Stibbard passed away from Leukemia, when I was 6 years old. Because of cancer, I lost the opportunity to truly get to know the amazing person many knew her to be. But in the years since, I have watched the impact that her life and death had on my family. I remember my mom crying so hard at her funeral that my dad had to finish her eulogy. I remember how my cousin, Jaime, had to become as close to a mom as she could for her younger brother when she was only 10. I remember how my grandma, who we just lost this past August, would make a fresh cup of coffee for her daughter every morning and put it on the shelf by her ashes and picture. I watch my grandpa continue to do so to this day. Even if you don’t have direct experience with blood cancers, everyone is touched by some form of cancer during their lives. 

So, to honor my Aunt and the millions of victims and survivors, I am making a commitment to finding a cure for blood cancer. And, I need your help.

Today, I am asking you for support for my team’s campaign; there is no way we can accomplish our goal without your help! This program is one of LLS’s biggest fundraisers of the year, and I am so honored and excited to be a part of it. Our campaign will run for a limited 7 weeks, from January 16th - March 7th, and so make your donation today! 

Since the early 1960s, five-year survival rates for many blood cancer patients have doubled, tripled or even quadrupled. In the past 2 years alone, LLS has helped advance 45 out of 51 blood cancer treatments approved by the FDA. Plus, 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. This all goes to show that LLS is doing real work in the field.

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!

If you have any additional questions or would like to learn about more ways to support us, please feel free to email us at cancelcancer4lls@gmail.com. Also, be sure to follow us on Instagram and Facebook @cancelcancer4lls for more updates and information!

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