North Texas Staff Dallas Marathon Relay Team: Mission

L to R: Stacey Russell (Deputy Executive Director) Patricia Thomson
(Executive Director), Kacy Lowe (Director of Development, Michael Iyescas 
(School & Youth Manager), Tiffany Valeri (Light The Night Manager)

For the first time in the history of the North Texas Chapter of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS), five staff members are teaming up to participate in the Dallas Marathon - Relay for Team In Training (TNT).  They are already fundraising and training for their leg of the race but are facing their own individual challenges.  Today Michael Iyescas, a School & Youth Manager, talks about his motivation: the mission.

"Several months ago, before I started with LLS, I found myself asking a simple question, 'What am I passionate about and how can I apply that to my career?'  I have always been passionate about my family, friends, and helping those in need. This sparked memories of my grandfather, who battled leukemia for several years until his passing.

Today, as a Campaign Manager with LLS, I leverage these memories of my grandfather and desire to be instrumental in the fight to find cures to take the next step.  The mission is why I joined a leg of the staff Team In Training team, at the upcoming Metro PCS Dallas Marathon.

Not everybody has a personal connection to the LLS mission and blood cancer patients like I do with my grandfather.  Instead, I appeal to the incredible facts about how far LLS funding has taken the race to find cures for blood cancers.  

- For more than 60 years, LLS has invested more than $1 billion to advance cancer therapies and save lives. 

- LLS funding was instrumental in developing the port for the distribution of chemotherapy and the use of multi-drug chemotherapy.  Both of which are currently used in the treatment of all cancers.
- Early detection is not an option for blood cancer patients, finding a cure is the only option.

I am moved by these facts and look forward to the day when I can say that I played a pivotal role in helping to fund the next big breakthrough in the cancer landscape.  Join me, my team, and LLS and help be a part of history."

You can join Michael and the rest of the North Texas staff team by registering to participate with Team In Training this spring.  Register today at www.teamintraining.org/ntx