I, Boston Cullenbine, am honored to be a part of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s (LLS) Student Visionaries of the Year Campaign, a 7-week competition for high schoolers to raise money for LLS’s overall mission to cure leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin’s disease and myeloma, and improve the quality of life of patients and their families. My team is particularly passionate about research and will be representing this area of LLS, funding the most promising blood cancer research across the globe and forging collaborations to accelerate new discoveries, treatments, and cures. With more than a 70-year track record, LLS has supported virtually every advancement in blood cancer treatment, investing over #1.5 billion that have led to breakthroughs in immunotherapy, genomics, and personalized medicine that are improving and saving patients' lives.

This year, I represent Larsen Hartley, a five-year-old leukemia patient from Ogden, Utah. He had been diagnosed in June 2022, expending all of his energy during recovery. Due in large part to treatments funded by the LLS, Larsen will ring the bell to celebrate being cancer free in September 2024. The LLS has contributed towards 75% of all blood cancer treatment options approved by the FDA, and they will continue to fight for advancements in patient care affordability, accessibility, and therapeutic options. With children, chemotherapy puts them at risk for developmental, possibly chronic side effects especially, emphasizing the need for research in treatments that benefit the patient even after survival. LLS is striving to raise $175 million to reimagine the standard of care for pediatric blood cancer through the Dare to Dream Project, as leukemia is the most commonly diagnosed cancer for children. The White Blood Warriors support the development of new blood cancer treatments so that they can become more successful and less invasive, allowing future positive outcomes for patients like Larsen.

Please consider joining this fight by making a donation. The White Blood Warriors aim to fundraise an amibitous goal of $25,000 by March 16, 2024. All donations are greatly appreciated and tax-deductible. Thanks to your support, the White Blood Warriors and LLS will help ensure this generation is the last to see cancer. Every sponsor, donation, and advocate contributes to a cure; on behalf of blood cancer patients everywhere, thank you!

“What counts in life is not the mere fact that we have lived. It is what difference we have made to the lives of others.” -Nelson Mandela

Thank you,

Boston Cullenbine

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