(L-R) Sofia Koudjeti ’18, Lauren Clancy ’18, Alli Kelly, Jacklyn Toll,
Taylor Law, Tracy Law, Erin Hicks ’17, Carmen DiPippo ’17
This year there are two teams of Holy Cross students participating in the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) Students of the Year Campaign. “Team Going for the Gold” is led by Carmen DiPippo ’17 and “Reach New Heights to Cross Out Cancer” is led by Lauren Clancy ’18 and Sofia Koudjeti ’18 with Alex Mahoubi from The Heights School. The Students of the Year Campaign is a leadership development and philanthropy program in which high school students participate in a fundraising competition to benefit LLS and the mission to cure blood cancers. The candidates/teams who raise the most money at the end of the six-week competition, from Thursday, January 12 to Saturday, February 25, earn the title Students of the Year.
On Wednesday, January 4, Holy Cross students attended an assembly to hear about the work of LLS and the Students of the Year Campaign. Jaclyn Toll, LLS Deputy Executive Director of the National Capital Area Chapter, spoke about the importance of supporting organizations like LLS to help find cures for cancer. She also shared a brief video about the Students of the Year Campaign. Alli Kelly, LLS Campaign Manager for Students of the Year, praised the work Holy Cross students have committed during the four years the campaign has taken place. Taylor Law, the 2017 LLS Patient Hero, also addressed the assembly and spoke about her diagnosis at age 8, her fight against leukemia, and the support LLS provided to her and her family. Taylor, a junior at Sherwood High School, is now in remission.
Carmen, Lauren and Sofia spoke about their personal connection to friends and family members who have battled cancer. They shared why they decided to participate in the Students of the Year Campaign and how they plan to raise funds for LLS. Both teams have planned several fundraising events to support their efforts. Each team has a Facebook page with details about how to support their activities.
See Team Going for the Gold Facebook page here.
See Reach New Heights to Cross Out Cancer Facebook page here.
Holy Cross will also hold activities to help both teams raise funds.
LLS seeks to cure leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin's disease and myeloma, and improve the quality of life of patients and their families. They work to ensure access to treatments for blood cancer patients and to be the voice for all blood cancer patients.