M(a)y(a) why.

It’s hard to believe that in May I’ll be walking across a stage receiving my diploma without my best friend. This is something that we had dreamed of doing together, but life had other plans. These next seven weeks are for Maya Grace Collins. While leukemia took her from this Earth on October 3rd, 2017, she will never leave our minds, our hearts, and our spirits. That is why I have accepted my nomination for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s Student of the Year. I have been blessed with a team of hardworking, passionate people that want to see a world without blood cancers just as much as I do. Team Maya the Magnificent has a goal to raise $50,000 in seven short weeks so that we open a research grant in Maya’s name!
LLS has invested more than 1.3 billion dollars into blood cancer research, paving the way for some of today’s most innovative blood cancer treatments -- some of these treatments are now being used to treat other cancers and non-malignant diseases.

Through support and advocacy, we will one day see a world where no more lives are lost to blood cancer. This is a world that Maya would have loved to see, and she would have loved to pave the way for. I can think of no better way to honor her our senior year than by funding this research grant.

I hope you will join me as we strive to take down blood cancers, once and for all.

The link to donate is now live: https://events.lls.org/soh/tristatesoy21/rmalloy 

Thank you💙

 I am excited to share that I have accepted my nomination to be a candidate for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s (LLS) Students of the Year fundraising campaign. Students of the Year is a seven-week fundraising, leadership & development program for high school students that focuses on developing young leaders in the community while they raise funds for LLS.   

I am writing today to ask for your support to help LLS in its efforts to find a cure for blood cancers and to assist patients and families as they battle these diseases. LLS is at the forefront of the fight to cure cancer.  They are the largest non-profit dedicated to creating a world without blood cancers.  Since their inception in 1949, they have invested nearly $1.3 billion in groundbreaking research pioneering many of today’s most innovative approaches.  Since 2017, LLS has helped to advance 60 of the 70 blood cancer treatment options approved by the FDA, some of which are now used to treat other forms of cancer and non-malignant diseases.  With your help, we can continue to fund this fight for a world with cancer cures.  

My mission this year is personal.  I am participating in the 2021 Students of the Year campaign to honor the life of my best friend, Maya Collins, who passed away in 2017. Maya fought cancer for 6 ½ years, relapsed twice, endured extreme doses of chemo, and 3 bone marrow transplants. She succumbed to the effects of her treatments on October 3, 2017, after receiving her 3rd bone marrow transplant at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Maya and I had planned to do life together, and when she passed away I was heartbroken and shocked and wondered how I was supposed to do life without her. I quickly vowed to do all the things we had planned in her honor and to “make everyday magnificent” for her. Team Maya the Magnificent has come together to raise $50,000 in 7 short weeks so that we can link a research portfolio in Maya’s memory.  This would have been Maya and I’s senior year together and I can think of no better way to honor her than Students of the Year!

With your support, and continued collaboration among researchers, doctors, advocacy organizations, pharmaceutical companies, regulators and patients, we are well on our way to conquering cancer once and for all. Please help Team Maya the Magnificent on our quest for cures!  

Please visit my website as often as you can and share it with everyone you know who would also like to join us in the fight against cancer. Together, we have the power, the passion and the resolve to achieve a world without blood cancer. All donations are tax-deductible.

On behalf of cancer patients and their families everywhere, I sincerely thank you for your support!

For more information about LLS, please visit lls.org