Friday (2/28) marked the end of our fundraiser, thank you much to everyone who donated, we exceeded our goal! 
 

 Shreya Thayaparan & Akshayan Nagarajah 

HOW TO COMPANY MATCH: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1GzahPZjqVoVJSAqf25ON05BlINYr1VlnZSsLguaF2_w/edit?usp=sharing
 

From: Shreya Thayaparan, Akshayan Nagarajah, Arathana Nagarajah, Swathi Thayaparan, and Sneha Thayaparan

We are truly honored to participate as a team 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. We are proud of having the opportunity to raise critical dollars in honor of patients who are currently battling or are 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. 

Shreya:

The simple fact that there is a disease constantly evolving as we speak, that is taking away the lives of hundreds of millions of people yearly, has always frustrated me; especially the fact that we haven't found a cure to it yet. I want to raise money towards finding one because I truly believe that every single penny counts and that the sooner we find a cure, countless lives will be saved. Even beyond just a person whose life is taken by cancer, many overlook the fact that the lives of families will never be the same again. When I was 5 years old, my younger cousin who was fearlessly fighting an extremely rare blood disease, passed away at the mere age of 4 1/2. Thinking back, I distinctly recall the faces of every single person in the family as I walked into the room, but what had happened was not something that I was able to understand at the time. I still remember the funeral with so many people impacted by one small, but incredibly destructive disease -something that we still do not have a cure to. At his funeral, I vividly remember the beautiful, white doves that were released from a cage, and my hope is that someday in the nearby future, we will be able to free all the innocent souls from the cold-blooded cage that we know as blood diseases and 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 also make sure to take advantage of employer-matching benefits, and contact us with any questions!

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

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

Thank you, 

Shreya Thayaparan (San Jose) & Akshayan Nagarajah (Rocklin)