My aunt Kim was diagnosed with breast cancer in February of 2017. Although she has been battling cancer for three years now, she is the bravest, liveliest, and most positive person I have ever known in my life. She has been such a great example to me of perseverance, faith, and love. From a young age, I always gravitated towards Kim because she makes everyone feel special and accepts and supports everyone with open arms and the biggest smile! I am raising money in honor of Kim because she is someone I love and respect with my whole heart. I want to help more people like her because I know she would do the same for anyone else. 

My grandpa was diagnosed with lymphoma in 1997, returning in 2005 and 2010. He has fought with cancer for many years and with the help of LLS, my grandpa received the treatment and care he needed to beat lymphoma. Now, thanks to LLS’s discovery of new drugs and treatments, he can proudly say he is a three-time lymphoma survivor, still in remission in 2020! LLS’s assistance has been crucial in his treatment process, and my family and I are eternally grateful for it. I acknowledge that there are many individuals whose stories do not end like my grandpa’s, therefore I want to change the outcomes of future battles.

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, Christine Fischer, and am raising critical dollars in honor of a young patient hero, Faith Froehlich, who 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.

We really are changing the face of blood 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.