I am running for Student Visionaries of the Year in honor of my little sister Drew Carroll. 

When I was 7 years old, Drew was just three, she was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. I will never forget my mom calling my dad. I was in the backseat. She was yelling "you have to come quick". My Dad turned the car around and he dropped me off at my grandma's house. Everyone was sad. The phone kept ringing. 

The first time I was able to see my sister was six days later in the hospital. Her only request was that she got to play with my other sister Dannie and I. I walked in and saw my little sister who looked thinner, she had bruises all over her arm from them poking her with needles, and she had blood in her eyes. We went to the playroom and colored with Drew. She was so happy we were there. I tried to pretend like everything was normal. For my sister and for my parents. But everything wasn't normal. Drew wouldn't be coming home with us. Neither would my parents. 

For the next 2.5 years, Drew had harsh chemotherapy. She missed out on life for entire year of that journey. In someways we all did.

The national cancer institute has a budget of $4.9 billion. 4% goes to childhood cancers. That's 4% divided by 12 major childhood cancers. 96% goes to adult cancers. Most of which are diagnosed after the age of 50. 3/4 of childhood cancer survivors will face life-threatening illnesses by the age of 40. I didn't want to lose Drew when I was seven years old and I don't want to lose Drew when I'm 44. 

I have a fundraising goal of $350,000. I have only a couple weeks to do this. Please help me fight for every sibling of childhood cancer, and every child who had to go through what Drew did.

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