I am honored to participate as the candidate for team Ambition for Remission in 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 raise critical dollars in honor of a young patient hero who is in remission from 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.

I joined this campaign because I am passionate about giving back to my community and I want to be a part of the generation to find a cure! While childhood leukemia has the highest cure rate of any blood cancer, it is also still the number-one disease killer among children under the age of 20. This needs to change, and I know that as we come together and partner with LLS we will find a cure, not someday, but today! I joined this campaign because I have lost two childhood friends in my past due to similar health conditions and I do not want any other child to lose their life to blood cancer.

We are leading this team in honor of our hero, Harlow, a 4th-grade student at North Lake School, who was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia in August of 2017.  After months of intense chemotherapy, numerous inpatient stays, spinal taps, a port placement, and daily chemotherapy treatments, Harlow rang the bell in December 2019 to signify the end of her cancer treatment! She is now in remission!  After seeing what Harlow and her family went through due to this horrible disease, we wanted to participate in this great cause and do everything we can to help her and others who are affected by leukemia, lymphoma, or any cancer. 

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 so much for your support!

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