We are honored to participate as team members for our granddaughter, Allie del Olmo, 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. Allie is running with her friend, Alix Rios, as the A Team. We are raising critical dollars in honor of one of their friends, Kate, a young patient who is currently battling 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.

Kate, was recently diagnosed with stage 4 Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. She is 16 years old and a sophomore at Alamo Heights High School. She is currently undergoing chemotherapy treatment. We are raising money to find a cure for blood cancers, and with your help you could improve the lives of people with blood cancer, like their friend Kate. LLS funded more than 60% of the blood cancer therapies being used to treat other cancers. Every 3 minutes someone in the US is diagnosed with blood cancer and every 9 minutes someone dies from blood cancer.  We need your help to change that.

Since the early 1960s, five-year survival rates for many blood cancer patients have 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 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!

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

Thank you for your support!

Cathy and Jack Keene

Meet the A Team, Alix Rios and Allie del Olmo: