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.

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!

Everyone has their own reasons for participating in this program. Mine is very personal, and very simple - an extremely close friend, just over a year ago, had to go through this long and arduous journey of recovery from cancer. After she was diagnosed with breast cancer, my entire family was in shock. We could neither, eat, sleep, nor breathe. Luckily, the cancer was found in its early stages, and they had an amazing team of doctors and surgeons that guided her on her road to recovery. After multiple surgeries and months of rehabilitation, we are proud to say that she is a cancer survivor. I feel obligated to do as much as I can for families who are going through similar trauma, and this program has enabled me to do that.

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!

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