I am honored to participate in the 2019 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 be 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(s) 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.

In addition to being a candidate for this program, I am also a leukemia survivor.  When I was 21 months old, I was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL). For over two years, I took daily chemo medications, had many same day surgeries, and many stays in the hospital

As strange as this sounds, I was lucky to be diagnosed with ALL. I had a very curable form of leukemia thanks to years of research, made possible by generous donors. 

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!

However, I have known friends and family members who have had different forms of leukemia. For them, their leukemia is not as curable, and unfortunately, some of them eventually passed away from their disease.  My goal is to give those that have other forms of leukemia a chance at life, like I received. So, will you please help me to reach my goal of helping others by generously donating to my Student of the Year campaign?

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!