Hello there! My name is Rachna Setlur and I am a freshman at Evergreen Valley High School. I live in the Evergreen Area of San Jose surrounded by my friends and family. My motivation to join this campain comes from my desire to help others and give back to the community that raised me. More specifically, I want to support families that have loved ones battling cancer, hoping that while I may just be a young girl in a big city, I can still make a change for these people and many others in the future.  

I am honored to participate as a team member for the 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. I am proud to support my candidate and am 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 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.

Why should you support LLS? Here are a few major points that really shocked and stood out to me while learning about this campaign:

• About every 3 minutes, someone in the U.S is diagnosed with blood cancer.

• More than ⅓ of these people do not survive the diagnosis.

• LLS changes 1.2 million lives through our research.

• They have funded 230 research grants and invested 1.2 billion dollars in cancer research since 1949.

• Blood cancer research also helps find cures for other cancers and diseases such as diabetes and breast 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!

On behalf of blood cancer patients everywhere, thank you for your support!

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