We are extremely excited to participate as Co-Candidates for the 2020 Students of the Year program! Students of the Year is 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. We are proud to support LLS and determined to raise money in honor of young patient heroes who are currently battling or are in remission from a form 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. 

In 2010, Elizabeth's brother, Liam, was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. Three and a half years later Liam rang the bell at Children's Hospital of Wisconsin. Today, he is a healthy seventh-grader at Christ King School in Wauwatosa and an active advocate for the mission of LLS.

In 2014, Georgia's dad, Bret, was diagnosed with throat cancer. A long year later, he was officially cancer-free and ready to go back to work and get back on the basketball court.

These were the hardest experiences we have ever been through, but we have learned a lot from them and we are extremely lucky that these two are still in our lives. As our parents, aunts, and uncles have become involved in supporting the fight against cancer, we are participating in the Students of the Year program to do our part in giving back. We will forever be grateful for everybody who has supported our family in one way or another.

Every dollar is a vote! The candidate 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. 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.

In order to make a change, we are determined to raise $50,000 to contribute to the mission of LLS. We need YOUR help in order to make a difference.

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

Georgia Barczak & Elizabeth Merz, DSHA Students, Team Cousins' Cause