My name is Samrutha Babu. I am a 9th grader at Eastlake High school. 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 and am raising critical dollars in honor of a young patient hero who is currently battling or 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.

My best friend Prokriti Basu has been in the same situation. Her mom was diagonosed with Lymphoma, but fortunately her mom is now in 8 years remission. Being a 8 year old at that time, she faced her hardest struggles. There many families out there facing the same situation. Even there some on-going funds, it is not enough. 

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!

Please help us by doing your part! All donations are greatly appreciated and are tax deductible. Please also do company matching! 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.