Hello!

I am very excited to announce that I have been nominated to participate as a candidate for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s (LLS) Students of the Year Campaign. The Students of the Year campaign (SOY) is a seven-week fundraising competition to raise money and awareness for LLS. I am writing today to ask for your support of my campaign and LLS’s mission to find cures for blood cancers and to assist patients and their families. I have been given an opportunity to help others and I cannot do it without your support.

Before learning about this program, I never imagined that a teenager could impact the life of another person or family in such a profound way. As soon as I learned what I could do for another person, I jumped right in and accepted the challenge as a Students of the Year candidate because I wanted to make a real impact on people. 

You may be wondering, why LLS? While I do not have a direct family history of blood cancer, I do recall when my mother received a potentially life-threatening diagnosis. In 2016, she learned that she had a brain tumor. Thankfully the craniotomy was successful but she had a lengthy recovery after the surgery. When she came home, she could not drive, cook dinner, could not help around the house or help my brother, sister, and I with our homework. It took about five months before she could return to work and we were so blessed that her employer continued to pay her salary during her medical leave and we had so many friends and family to help with driving and other errands. This kindness shown to our family will never be forgotten and I want to pay it forward. Unfortunately for many people diagnosed with a life-threatening diagnosis,  this is not their reality. 

My campaign runs from January 26, 2022, to March 19, 2022, and my goal is to raise $100,000 to help eradicate blood cancer.  Yes, you read that correctly, $100,000 in 7 weeks, which will all go directly to support LLS.