Every year, students are given opportunities to help raise awareness and money for worthy causes. Some students from the Jim Thorpe High School have joined the campaign and have made a huge impact on a certain organization.

“I was one of the fifteen student candidates in the 2017 class of Student of the Year in Eastern PA. I heard about the campaign through the guidance office at school and we met with Pam Lutz, an advisor to all the students participating. She told us that if we applied and got accepted, we would be spending a couple months setting up teams and fundraisers to help raise money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. LLS helps continue research for a cure to diseases like Leukemia, Lymphoma, Hodgkin’s disease, myeloma, and more. They also help patients and their families deal with the burden and pay for treatment plans and medical bills,” Cassity Dixon, a senior at the Jim Thorpe High School stated. “We spent two months meeting honored heroes (survivors of cancer and their family members) and preparing for our campaign. We then spent seven weeks actually raising money. I, personally, raised money by writing letters, using social media and connections, holding bake sales, and putting out donation buckets. After the campaign, the 15 students, their teams and family, and LLS celebrated our impact at a gala, where they revealed which team/student raised the most money in the seven weeks. That team was Team Jim Thorpe, Molly and Natalia. They then told us that the 15 of us raised over $102,000. I am extremely proud to have been a part of that total and glad I could do my share. Working with LLS was a great opportunity for me, and I loved every minute of it.”

More than one student from the high school participated though, and the whole experience was a good way to connect with their fellow students.

“We were all a part of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s Students of the Year Campaign. This fundraising competition included fifteen students from Eastern PA who in 7 weeks raised the combined total of $102,000. The $102,000 will be used to fund research and to help blood cancer patients and their families, and it was amazing to work with my fellow students,” another student, Natalia Richards, writes.

The project itself has been an amazing experience for the students and staff involved, proving to have made a very large dent in the search for a cure, a new way of payment for patients, and an overall hope and inspiration that if individuals band together and work as a team,  anything can be accomplished.