My name is Katelyn Chau, and I go to Espiritu Santo Catholic Church in Safety Harbor and I am currently a junior at the Academy of the Holy Names. I am excited to share my nomination as a candidate for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s (LLS) Student of the Year campaign. Starting January 17th, 2019 through March 9th, 2019, my partner, Lauren Jones, and I, alongside students from across the country, will be raising awareness of the research, programs, and advocacy being conducted through LLS. The LLS is changing the lives of 1.2 million Americans living with a blood cancer; in fact, LLS-funded treatments have benefited all cancer patients due to the fact that more than 40% of the new FDA-approved cancer treatment drugs since 2005 began as blood cancer drugs but are now being applied in all medical research. With our golden goal of $50,000, we hope to name a LLS research portfolio for years of research to come.

I first encountered the malignancy of cancer five years ago when my aunt passed from a rare skin cancer called Neurofibrosarcoma. At the time, I was too young to understand the concept of cancer, but what I did know was that several people had lost their lives to it. As was only a seventh-grader, I was already familiar with the immediate connection between cancer and death, which saddens me greatly. Day by day, my aunt fought to stay alive, watching my family be torn apart by this illness. During these times, I felt completely helpless, for there was nothing more I wanted to do than to rid of this pain we all shared. In April 2014, my aunt passed away. The day she died was the birthday of my cousin, Alex, who had just turned 10 years old. A mere 10 years was all that he had known my aunt, an age too young to understand the challenges of cancer and an age no child should ever endure the burdens of cancer. Today, in honor of my aunt, I join LLS in their fight to not only end cancer, but also to save children, adults, families, future generations from the hardships of cancer that I once experienced.

Any donation of any amount is appreciated, whether it be $50, which funds educational books for healthcare providers, or $500, which covers costs of treatment-related travel for a patient. Your donation, big or small, is so powerful because, as of today, the final amount of money needed to end cancer is unknown which signifies the fact that any dollar from any person can finish the fight. Your donation, your single dollar, can be what ends it all. 

Thank you in advance for your donation to our team and the mission of LLS, and I hope you are able to go gold with Lauren and I as we work to find a cure.

For more information about LLS, please visit www.lls.org or contact Katelyn Chau via kachau158@gmail.com or 727.776.4580.