And the winner of the 2020 Student of the Year is... Marleigh Hayes!  Congratulations to the soon to be senior at The New School in Fayetteville.  Marleigh ran as a candidate to advocate for blood cancer patients and their families who need the most help through their trials.  A special note of appreciation goes to her Gold Sponsor, Simmons Foods, who helped her secure the win.  We appreciate the work of Marleigh and her Kiss It, Cancer! team who worked hard mailing hundreds of letters, gathering auction items and sending emails to rally support for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.  By raising $29,818 during the pandemic, they showed that beating cancer is definitely in their blood!

A shout out also goes to the Northwest Arkansas Student of the Year Runner Up, Team Open Hearts, led by Rachael Thumma, Bilal Raza and Dheeksha Krishnan.  This trio of candidates from Bentonville High School raised $22,007.50!! They also were presented with the Relentless Award for their tireless efforts in fundraising to find a cure for cancer.    

The staff of LLS appreciates all 11 candidate teams who participated in the 2020 campaign and hope to see them continue to be the philanthropic leaders of their generation.

Santa Ana, California, June 7, 2020 - 19 local high school philanthropists collectively raised $452,609 in the 4th Annual 2020 Students of the Year OCIE Campaign.

The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) Orange County Inland Empire Chapter hosted their 4th Annual OCIE Students of the Year Campaign Grand Finale Celebration Virtually this year. The evening included an inspiring program, celebrating local high school philanthropists. 

Kayla Hayashi, Jacqie Gordon, & Will Stauffer of Team Six Lives Per Hour (6LPH), were recognized as the 2020 OCIE Students of the Year.

The runner up was Team Conquer Cancer, led by Aiden Brutman, Kevin Forbath, & Trent Liolios. The Citizenship Awards were presented to Juleen Erives of team Mission CANcer-vive for Mission, Ava Jansen and Ceci Warren of team More Hopeful Hearts, for Community Involvement, and Sanya Dhama of team Connect & Cure, for Innovation. Individual results will be posted once all national Student of the Year Campaigns are complete.

The evening’s festivities were hosted by long time LLS supporter, Mike Shumard.

Mission speakers at the event included:

• 2020 Students of the Year Honored Hero Samantha Diaz, a 17 year old Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia survivor, shared her story and congratulated the 2020 candidates on their efforts to continue raising funds that would benefit both research and patient services for cancer patients.

• Jack Witherspoon, a 20 year old three-time Leukemia survivor, chef, and author, presented our 2020 Citizenship Awards.

ABOUT STUDENTS OF THE YEAR

The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's (LLS) Students of the Year is an exciting leadership development and philanthropy program in which high school students participate in a fundraising competition to benefit LLS. Every dollar raised counts as one vote. The candidates/teams who raise the most money at the end of the 7-week competition earn the title Student(s) of the Year. For motivated high school students, this program ensures they stand out among their peers when engaging with colleges and/or future employers. Through guidance and mentoring from experienced professionals at LLS they will make a real impact in the fight against blood cancers.

Apply or Nominate a High School Student for our 2021 Students of the Year class at https://studentsoftheyear.org/get-involved.

ABOUT THE LEUKEMIA & LYMPHOMA SOCIETY

The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) is the largest voluntary health organization dedicated to funding research, finding cures and ensuring access to treatments for blood cancer patients. Since 1949, LLS has been on the forefront of blood cancer advances such as chemotherapies and stem cell transplantation leading the way to the targeted therapies and immunotherapies that are saving thousands of lives today. LLS is changing the landscape of cancer with more than 300 active research projects that explore different avenues of new and adventurous research; ones with promise and ones that will save lives not someday, but today.

Thank you so much to Leukemia 24/7 for the generous donation! 

Thank you for your dedication to raising funds to find cures for blood cancers! Congratulations to all the previous Students of the Year candidates and team members graduating this year, we wish you the very best as you move on to college and careers!

Congratulations to Erin Heffner for being titled our Student of the Year in Idaho! Erin is a senior at Bishop Kelly High School and has nothing but bright adventures ahead of her!

Check out our Students of the Year in the News!!

Watch our 2020 Students of the Year Winners: Crushing Cancer on Good Morning Washington with Eileen Whalen!

And read about the record breaking year in the Washingtonian!

Seven teams of high school students from across Oregon collectively raised $472,000 towards The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS). The dollars raised will support LLS’s mission to cure leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkins Disease and myeloma and to improve the quality of life for blood cancer patients and their families. Their fundraising efforts culminated at the Grand Finale Gala on Sunday, March 8 where top fundraisers were announced. Students from participating schools include West Linn High School, Lakeridge High School, Jesuit High School, Sunset High School, and Sprague High School in Salem, Oregon.

Taelyn Haney, a freshman at West Linn High School, was has been named this year’s Oregon & SW Washington Students of the Year. Taelyn, who aspires to become a pediatrician, became involved out of her passion for LLS’s Children’s Initiative which aims to produce the first targeted treatments for pediatric blood cancer patients. There have been only four treatments approved specifically for children in the last 40 years and 80% of child cancer survivors are left with chronic health complications due to cancer treatment. LLS plans to invest $100 million in the Children’s Initiative over the next five years and has launched PedAL, the world’s first global clinical trial, in order to get results for pediatric patients.

Anna Seely, a junior at Lakeridge High School and AML survivor, was awarded the Mission Award for her outstanding fundraising and awareness-building through community involvement and volunteerism. Anna understands the importance of the LLS mission and wanted to share her story to help the kids fighting cancer today. In May, she will celebrate five years being cancer free!

Another top fundraiser was Ella Smith, a senior at Jesuit High School. Ella plays lacrosse competitively and first became involved with LLS when her friend and teammate, Liz Lofurno, was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Disease. When Liz asked her to run for Student of the Year, she happily agreed. Ella will attend Vanderbuilt University in the fall where she will continue playing lacrosse.

“Congratulations to our winners, and to all of our candidates and campaign team members who participated in this year’s Students of the Year challenge,” said Julie Davidson, LLS OSWIM Executive Director. “These exceptional young people are all passionate and determined individuals, and leaders in their communities. Together, we are getting closer to LLS’s goal of a world without blood cancer.”

The Partners Group, led by CEO and former LLS Board Member Rod Cruickshank, was a major contributor to this year’s success. “Serving and giving is in The Partners Group’s DNA and we believe partnering with LLS is an important way for TPG to fulfill our stated purpose to make a difference in our community and inspire others to do the same.”

LLS would also like to thank major sponsors ADP and Lithia 4 Kids, as well as Students of the Year kick off partner Providence Cancer Center and media partners KOIN and Portland’s CW.

Each student mobilized their networks and ran exciting campaigns that attracted donations from around the country. They honed skills such as professional presentations to business leaders, organizing fundraising events and getting everyone they knew—even some they didn’t—involved in the fight against blood cancer.

In total, the Class of 2020 raised over a record-setting $472,000 in a spirited 7-week fundraising period which began on January 18th and ended March 8th with a Grand Finale gala at the Melody Ballroom.  Every dollar raised counts as one vote, and local winners are considered for the national title. In 2019, teams across the country raised over $30 million for the LLS mission. The national winner will be announced this summer. 

For more information or to nominate a high school student for the 2021 challenge, please visit the Students of the Year website (www.studentsoftheyear.org).

Thank you to Bambinos for donating yummy pasta for our kick off event!