Every three minutes – every hundred and eighty seconds – an individual in the US is diagnosed with leukemia, lymphoma, or myeloma. Every nine minutes, an individual in the US dies from blood cancer. Leukemia, lymphoma, and myeloma are among the multitude of blood cancers that have merciless effects on the lives of countless people, families, and communities.
Fortunately, foundations motivated in the search for a cure for cancer have globalized the cancer research and patient care industry. Every day, these organizations raise awareness and money to drive the search for a cure. The world’s biggest nonprofit health foundation, The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) fights for a brighter future for the cancer community. To this day, LLS has generated over $1.7 billion, all of which has been funneled into the continuous evolution of blood cancer research: a race for the cure.
Today, LLS expands its grasp on the people of the United States by creating the extensive Student Visionaries of the Year Program (SVOY). Every year, high school students across the nation are nominated to build a team to “embark on an exciting 7-week journey,” in which each candidate hopes “to create a world without blood cancers,” while striving to “earn the Student Visionary of the Year title.”
Radnor Township participates in this spectacular program. This year, I had the privilege to join my friend, sophomore Simon Richter, in a both frantic and benevolent race. Simon led our team, Be the Change, in the 2024 Greater Philadelphia SVOY campaign. The promotion kicked off on January 25 and lasted until March 14. To enable our readers to get to know Simon better, and to shed light on the inspiring work he has done this year, I asked Simon the following:
- Why and how did you become a candidate for the SVOY Program?
“Five years ago, my older sister, Eloise, ran an LLS Students of the Year campaign. During the home stretch of the fundraiser, we received the devastating news that our close family friend, Eliot, was diagnosed with a rare form of lymphoma. Eliot had babysat me when I was four years old, and it was an enormous shock that he, himself, would fight the battle of cancer during his senior year of high school. Eloise was able to finish her campaign in honor of our friend and donated the 60,000 dollars she raised to research his specific cancer. While I was only in fifth grade, I remember understanding the incredible impact of what she did. Eliot fought and won his battle and is now becoming an oncology doctor in the UK! I have led my campaign with this story and Eliot in my mind because while Eliot was fortunate enough to pay for his treatments and beat his cancer, there are so many out there who do not share the same privilege. I wanted to use this opportunity to help patients live out their dreams just like how Eliot is doing now.”
- How did you build Team Be the Change?
“My primary goal when building the team was to find well-rounded and hard-working peers from different communities and areas. This way we would be able to efficiently educate people on the LLS mission while also doing quality work for our campaign.”
- How did Team Be the Change fundraise?
“Leading up to the campaign, I heavily brainstormed how to reach networks of people who were not immediate connections to myself. I needed to broaden my scope and look at the campaign from a different angle. That is when I had the idea of working with my sister Eloise to get the student body of her college, the University of Richmond, involved in the LLS mission. Each sorority and fraternity at Richmond was given a personal page and link, and for three weeks the students worked hard to win the “LLS Greek Life Fundraising Competition.” As an incentive for the students, we found a local band to perform for the winning Greek Life team. This college fundraiser ended up being incredibly helpful, raising over $15,000 for our campaign. Learning how to creatively and effectively insert our mission into other communities was a major key to our success. In addition, we focused our efforts on diverse events, including a Super Bowl box pool, a clothing sale event at the boutique “Louella,” middle school and lower school lacrosse clinics coached by Division One athletes, and finally our team auction at 118 North in Wayne, PA.”
- What was your favorite moment of this year’s campaign?
“My favorite part of the fundraiser was our team auction towards the end of the campaign. We worked hard to gather auction items and plan the event with the 118 North owners and managers in Wayne. It was very rewarding to see our hard work pay off in front of our eyes, and have a community of people come together for a great cause.”
- Are there any shoutouts to give to people who helped drive your campaign?
“My entire team worked incredibly hard throughout the 7 weeks, but If I had to put the spotlight on one specific person It would be Nola Parsons. Nola went to extreme lengths for the success of our team and for the greater good of the LLS organization. Some of her achievements throughout the campaign included securing the team’s largest corporate sponsorship from CTDI, making the team member half of fame, making the 5k club, and raising $30,241 to become the 2024 Team Member of the Year.”
- What do you hope to see in LLS’s future?
“My main wish for the future of LLS is to keep the mission alive. Not just through student visionary campaigns, but for the entire organization as a whole.”
On Thursday, March 14th, the Greater Philadelphian SVOY Program hosted the Grand Event to mark the campaign’s closure. Team Be the Change, in addition to the ten other teams in the area, gathered with family, friends, and supporters for a night dedicated to the hard work put in by each and every team member. Special honors were awarded to various team members and candidates who embodied the missions of LLS.
A HUGE congratulations to Simon and to our team for this year’s phenomenal fundraising campaign. We raised a remarkable $125,493 in a short seven-week span to help the world take another step closer to cancer’s cure. Many of the teammates made the 5K Club, an honor reserved for members who had raised over $5,000 individually. Episcopal Academy’s Nola Parsons, as Simon mentioned, raised a whopping (and record-breaking) $30,000 and was named Team Member of the Year. Simon and Be the Change came in a very close second to Team Soaring Cranes, who raised $127,000.
Together, over the seven-week campaign, the 2024 Candidate Class raised a dazzling total of $471,022. Almost half of a million dollars, which is an amazing and seemingly impossible feat that was made possible by this year’s SVOY teams. Banded together, the Greater Philadelphian teams made a huge wave in the LLS community.
For an individual to be healthy enough to lead a fulfilling life and participate in the activities that characterize being human is a privilege. A luxury often overlooked, wellness is a constantly changing and ever-pervasive issue in today’s world. To those who consider themselves lucky enough to be healthy, it is crucial to give back to the people who can’t say the same. This year, LLS’s Team Be the Change dreamed big and worked to capitalize on their opportunities to aid others’ lives. In the process, Simon Richter led his team to be the change.
To learn more about the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society and their SVOY program, or to get involved and support LLS, please visit their website: https://www.lls.org/
