As you may have heard, my sister was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia last May and sadly she passed away on February 16, 2025, with me and my family right by her side. AML is an aggressive form of blood cancer and is the type of disease you don't want to search on Google. Within 24 hours of her diagnosis, Charley began treatment at The James Cancer Hospital and Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus. She faced many rounds of high-dose chemotherapy and had a bone marrow transplant in an effort to save her life. She lost all vision in her left eye, was admitted to the ICU three times, went into septic shock twice, had organ damage, blood complications, and experienced a level of sickness nobody should have to endure. Before Charley died, her last words were "It will be okay" and "I can do hard things." 
 

At the time of my campaign kick-off, Charley was in-patient and her doctors had worked so hard to find new treatments to treat her. This has been a long and painful process for my sister and my family and I know all she wanted to do was help other families facing a blood cancer diagnosis. Every day she was excited to see how much I had raised for LLS. Charley fought with optimism and hope until her very last breath and I just wish I could have half of her strength and courage.

While Charley was in Columbus fighting AML, I decided to do what I could to support blood cancer research here at home. January 31 through March 22, 2025, I am raising money for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s 2025 Student Visionaries of the Year campaign. I am competing against other student teams in Northwest Ohio to see who can raise the most funds and awareness for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s mission to cure blood cancers. 

I am a team leader with a committe of friends and family who are joining my fundraising campaign. In honor of my sister and all families facing a cancer diagnosis, our team goal is to raise over $120,000. I would greatly appreciate your help as we work toward this goal! The money raised helps LLS fund research for lifesaving treatments, advocates for policies to help patients access treatment, and provides patients like Charley with hope, education, and support. Our team is particularly passionate about game-changing research. 

LLS is the largest nonprofit funder of leading-edge research for every type of blood cancer, including leukemia, lymphoma, myeloma, and other rare types of blood cancers. The research supported by LLS goes beyond blood cancer, leading to treatment advances for other cancers and diseases, too. Since 1949, LLS has invested more than $1.8 billion into cancer research. 

I welcome you to make a personal donation. Or, if you are connected to a philanthropic business I would be happy to meet virtually or in person to share more information about my LLS campaign and discuss corporate and business donation levels. Here are simple ways to make a tax-deductible contribution between January 31st and March 22nd:

• Contribute online through this campaign page using Venmo, Paypal, Apple Pay, Google Pay, or a credit card

• Mail your contribution to my home: 7048 Altonbrough Drive Toledo, OH 43617. Make checks payable to “The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society” and print "Jack Bauer" in the memo

Please help me honor brave cancer patients like my sister by contributing to my campaign. Your donation will support LLS’s mission to cure blood cancers and will give more hope to families like mine. 

    With Gratitude, 

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