Dads Prove the School & Youth Program Isn't Just for Kids

A student at Otis Spears Elementary School came up with a fun challenge to benefit his school's School & Youth fundraising efforts.  Nine-year-old Max challenged his dad's soccer team in a 5k race.  For every team member that Max beat in the 5k, they had to donate $50 to Otis Spear's online fundraising account.  For every team member that beat Max, his dad would pay them $20.

On the morning of the race only two people beat Max.  The rest followed up on their end of the bet and donated to the Otis Spears online fundraising page.  But Max's fundraising challenge did not end there.  Max's dad offered to match every donation the team made to his son's school and the team's goalie agreed to do the same.

The team has raised more than $500 for Max's fundraising efforts with another several hundred dollars pledged.  Way to go!

If you would like to get your child and their school involved with the North Texas School & Youth program, please contact Sharis Hauder.

School & Youth Program: New Partner for 2014-2015 School Year

Urban Air Trampoline Park is partnering with the North Texas Chapter of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) for the upcoming school year.  The popular entertainment venue is joining LLS’ School and Youth Program to incentivize students to raise money for children who are currently battling a blood cancer, like leukemia and lymphoma.

The School and Youth Program is an educational and philanthropic program where students across 119 North Texas counties learn about blood cancers and then collect spare change to benefit LLS and its mission of creating a world without blood cancers.  Urban Air Trampoline Park is joining LLS in its efforts to encourage students in the immediate DFW area to fundraise by offering free passes to one of their four locations as a reward for schools that raise more than $2,015 this year.

“Urban Air Trampoline Park is an ideal partner for School and Youth,” says Director Steve Abrey.  “Passes to enjoy Urban Air’s unique facilities are something that will certainly encourage students to rally behind our mission and collect money that is so vital to funding cutting-edge lifesaving research.”

The School & Youth Program is a signature event of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society because of the close connection between children and blood cancers.  Leukemia is the #1 cancer killer of children under 20 years old. 

The LLS mission attracted Urban Air to School & Youth.  “At Urban Air we have a huge heart for children and their families. We are excited about our partnership with LLS because it allows us to help raise awareness and money for a cause impacting so many of our customers,” says Alix Wren, Special Events Coordinator for Urban Air Trampoline Park.  “We cannot wait to see kids in these local schools make a difference as they rally behind such a great cause.”

Urban Air Trampoline Park first got involved with LLS through a fundraiser at its Frisco location called Jump for Julia and Leap for Lainey.  Supporters raised money to honor two families with young daughters currently battling a leukemia diagnosis.  Urban Air saw the impact LLS makes for patients in North Texas and reached out to start a partnership with School & Youth.

Meet Michael Iyescas

The North Texas School & Youth team picked u p a new member over the Summer.  Meet Michael Iyescas.  He comes to The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) with a strong background in education and is excited to start reaching out to schools in a couple weeks.

We asked him a couple questions in order for you to get to know him better.

Tell us about your background in education.
I taught high school biology in the Dallas/Fort Worth area for two years.  It was a very rewarding and challenging experience that taught me a lot about how to build and manage relationships with young adults.  It was also enlightening in the sense that I became more aware and focused on my social capacity and how I could continue to develop these skills in the future.

Why did you choose LLS and the School & Youth program?
Gaining a sense of purpose in an occupational role is key, in my opinion.  LLS provides a foundation that allows you to utilize your strengths and skill set towards a noble cause.  Research and community service have always been passions of mine and I believe that joining LLS will further solidify these passions moving forward.

Why do you think children are so successful in raising money for LLS?
For one thing, children are very compassionate, energetic and full of life.  When we approach schools with a wonderful service opportunity that's engaging, fun, educational and makes a tremendous impact; everybody seems to get fired up and rally behind the LLS mission.

What do you want people to know about you?
I have an affinity for helping people lead healthier, more enriched lives.  I am also very passionate about science and love learning new things every day.  I also really enjoy traveling, experiencing diverse cultures and meeting new people and hearing their stories.

If you had a spare $50, how would you spend it?I would visit a nearby restaurant or coffee shop and secretly sponsor orders for customers.  Pay it forward!

Happy LLS New Year!

Break out the goofy hats, streamers and noise makers - we are celebrating here in North Texas!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!  

July 1st marks the start of a new fiscal year for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS).  And just as the whole world does on December 31st each year, we celebrate our successes of the previous year and look forward to the upcoming year and what we hope to achieve.  Since you are crucial to our success, we wanted to look back and celebrate all that you did to help us achieve one of our most successful years yet!

Below is a break-down of how the North Texas Chapter raised more than $5.1 million in the last fiscal year.

Team In Training raised $1.5 million and celebrated 20 years of running, walking, hiking, biking and swimming in North Texas.  Overall, North Texas TNT has raised more than $52 million in the last 20 years right here in North Texas.

Light The Night and its more than 10,000 walkers and sponsors raised more than $1.2 million this year over three Walk sites in Dallas, Fort Worth and North Cities.

Students in more than 800 schools in North Texas raised more than $885,000 for the School and Youth program by collecting pennies, nickles, dimes and quarters.  More than just raising money, this program gave LLS an opportunity to educate more than 400,000 students and teachers about blood cancers.

The Saint Valentine's Day Luncheon & Fashion Show celebrated its 31st year by raising more than $455,000.  More than 700 civic and community leaders gathered to celebrate the successes of LLS and the event over the last 30 years.

Golfers celebrated 18 years of the Links Fore Leukemia Golf Tournament by raising $110,000 for LLS.  That brings the total raised by this event to $2.4 million since its inception.

Some 1,300 climbers raised $210,000 for the Big D Climb in its sixth year at Fountain Place.  In 2015, the Big D Climb is moving to Comerica Bank Tower in downtown Dallas.

In addition to the various North Texas campaigns, the North Texas Chapter raised an additional $765,000 through individual donors, foundations and third party events.

We have a lot to celebrate and be thankful for this year.  Most of all, we are thankful for our generous sponsors, participants, fundraisers and volunteers.  Finding cures for blood cancers is no small task and we could not do it alone.  Thank you for playing such a crucial role in our mission. 

Olive Garden and the NTX School and Youth Program

Olive Garden, a national partner of the Pasta for Pennies Program, is a driving force behind North Texas' success in its School & Youth Program this year.  Below is a break-down of just how much they've donated in the 2013-2014 school year alone.  Brace yourself, the numbers are astounding!

15, 540 student lunches

40,000 breadsticks

3,885 pounds of pasta

1,943 pounds of sauce

Gift Grand Total: $719,585

"The team looks forward to this special time every year when we know our restaurant's extra efforts are making a meaningful impact in both our communities and in a person's life," says Olive Garden Regional Vice President Jesse Zavala.  "It is so exciting to see the engagement from the teachers and students.  I want to thank both my team and The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) for their continued efforts and look forward to an even greater Pasta for Pennies performance next year!"

We can't thank our partners at Olive Garden enough for their continued support and incredible generosity when it comes to rewarding North Texas students for their fundraising for LLS.

School & Youth: Wrapping Up a Great Year

This week the North Texas School and Youth team is sending out its annual Penny Times to the more than 770 schools that participated in the program during the 2013-2014 year.  This year we were BLOWN AWAY by the support this program received from its students, school coordinators and sponsors.  Brace yourself to be very impressed as we pull out some of the highlights from this past school year.

BY THE NUMBERS:
North Texas
    777 schools participated
    211 school districts in North Texas
    $900,000+ raised
    $26,000 raised online via fundraising pages
    22 Champions for Change (Schools that raised more than $4,000)
    104 Life Saver Schools (Schools that raised more than $2,014)

Nationwide
    29,000 schools participated
    1/4 of all schools nationwide
    $29 MILLION raised nationally

Feeling inspired?  You can get your school or your child's school registered now by contacting Sharis Hauder at Sharis.Hauder@lls.org or (972) 996-5917.

GO PENNIES!

Freebie Friday: Meet Sharis Hauder

I come from a long line of educators and have my Elementary Education Certification. I always planned on being a teacher until I developed a passion for the law while in college. I went to law school and practiced for 14 years but always had it in the back of my mind to get into the education field at some point in my life.  I now have that opportunity as a Manager for the School and Youth Program for the North Texas Chapter of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS).  While I’m not in the classroom on a daily basis, I’m glad I have found an opportunity to work with schools and interact with students while also helping to find a cure for blood cancers. 

I don’t have a personal connection to a blood cancers but I have seen how blood cancer research has benefitted patients with other types of cancer. My brother has been battling thyroid cancer for seven years so my work with LLS has found a new purpose. Knowing the funds our students raise may one day benefit my brother has renewed my dedication to our mission.

My role within the School and Youth Program has given me the chance to develop relationships with educators that I truly cherish. Educating students about blood cancers and the importance of serving our communities is the most rewarding part of my job.

We had a wonderful year last year and we could not have accomplished so much without the help and dedication of our school coordinators. To our coordinators out there, thank you so much for all your work and I hope we have the opportunity to work together in the coming year.  If you don’t already participate, please consider registering for our Pennies for Patients or Pasta for Pennies Programs this upcoming school year. The program is easy to administer, can be run at any time during the school year and teaches students about the value of giving back to your community.

There are a number of new elements to our program this year.  We are introducing new materials for high school students this year and offering new opportunities for schools to accept online donations. More details about the program and the chance to register can be found at

www.schoolandyouth.org/ntx. Be sure to like us on Facebook so you can keep up to date on all our activities.  https://www.facebook.com/NtxSchoolAndYouth

Thankful Thursday: Saint Mark's Success

Cathy Pantuso (center) with Deputy Executive Director Stacey
Russell (left) and Executive Director Patricia Thomson (right)
at the 2013 North Texas volunteer appreciation night.

More than 650 schools participate in the North Texas School and Youth program every year, raising hundreds of thousands of dollars for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) mission.  Saint Mark Catholic School in Plano has raised the bar with the program.  During the 2012-2013 school year, the 675 students raised more than $15,000 for LLS.  Cathy Pantuso, the School and Youth coordinator and a science teacher at St. Mark, has set expectations of success among her students very high.  St. Mark has been the top fundraising school in North Texas for five consecutive years with a combined fundraising total of nearly $82,000!

The North Texas Chapter is thankful for Cathy and her dedicated support to the School and Youth program and the mission of LLS.  The money she and the students raise are playing a significant role in helping further the LLS mission to create a world without blood cancers.

You can learn more about the North Texas School and Youth program here.

National Volunteer Week: School and Youth

Those who can, do. Those who can do more, volunteer.

~Author Unknown

Marta with her husband, daughter and son-in-law

This week is National Volunteer Week and while The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society is thankful for its volunteers year round, we are taking this opportunity to highlight seven outstanding volunteers that help make the North Texas chapter run so efficiently.

Marta Demaree is a dedicated volunteer who works with the School and Youth Program every Tuesday afternoon from 1p.m. - 5p.m.  The School and Youth Program is active in more than 400 schools in North Texas and Marta is instrumental in helping package and send out materials to the different schools.  Steve Abrey, School and Youth Campaign Manager, says, "We totally relay on what she does, her work ethic, and she always does it with a warm smile."

Marta does not limit her involvement with the North Texas Chapter to the School and Youth Program.  She has volunteered and participated in the Light The Night Walks, worked water stops for Team In Training, assisted at the Legends Volunteer Event, and whatever else is asked of her.

Marta is a life-long volunteer and started volunteering with adults with special needs.  She was a reference librarian for the City of Plano for more than 25 years and is now enjoying retirement with her husband.  She came to LLS when her daughter, Alyson Joyner, started working in the North Texas Chapter.   

We are thankful for Marta!

Freebie Friday: Meet Stacey Russell

Deputy Executive Director Stacey Russell
with Executive Director Patricia Thomson.

Just yesterday at the Saint Valentine’s Day Luncheon and Fashion Show, I was again amazed by the number of people that are touched by blood cancers. The event honored a young boy who generously and without question, donated his bone marrow to his younger brother, now a survivor of leukemia. A committee member spoke about her battle with lymphoma; another was there in honor of her brother who is battling leukemia as we speak. It is stories like those that I hear at the various events and programs that The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) hosts each year to help raise funds and awareness that keeps me motivated to do what I get the privilege of doing every day.

I was lucky enough ten years ago to stumble upon a job opening at LLS and it has definitely changed my life, for the better. Some things have changed ten years later, like the amazing advancements that have been made in treatments, some of the events that take place and some of the people that are no longer here as they lost their battle. Some things have stayed the same… like the generosity of people. Each day, there is a scientist hard at work trying to find the link to a cure due to the generosity of people in the community giving of their time, donating to someone doing a marathon through Team in Training or climbing stairs at the Big D Climb, becoming a corporate sponsor for the Links Fore Leukemia Golf Tournament or coming to the Lone Star Blood Cancer Conference as a caregiver wanting to learn more about how they can help their loved one through their cancer journey.

We all have days where we think what else could go wrong? Its raining and I have a flat tire or whatever the case may be. It seems disastrous then, but in the grand scheme of things, I am healthy, my husband, my kids, my family and friends are healthy, and that is what is important. However, there are so many people here in North Texas, across the US and the world that are not as fortunate. Instead, they are fighting for their lives or their loved one is. This is why getting involved with LLS in whatever way you can is so important, especially now. We are in the business of saving lives, literally, and invite you to be a part of that too. Someday Is Today!

Wordless Wednesday: School & Youth Assembly Fun

 

Thankful Thursday: College Application Essay

"Never believe that a few caring people can't change the world.

For, indeed, that's all who ever has."

- Margaret Mead

Jeshua

College Application Essay

Many people over the years have made minor and great impacts alike to my life. While these people may have gradually molded me into the moral person I am today, none of them have ever completely changed my goals and aspirations quite like my school’s most recent guest whose name I don’t even know. As surprising or cliché as it may sound, this older woman completely changed my whole career path in a 45 minute speech [about the School and Youth Program]. This lady from The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society may never even know it, but she perhaps just saved many lives of hurting people 10-15 years down the line. Because of her, I am now pursuing a career in the medical field, particularly a physician or oncologist in the blood cancer field.

I am not usually the kind of person to make spontaneous decisions, but, I’ve been taught by my parents that when a switch turns on inside of you, you make the most of it and follow it with your whole heart, and that’s exactly what I’m going to do. Before the guest came to my high school, I was at a loss for words when asked what I planned on pursuing afterwards. I knew that I had an interest in cars, so I believed that eventually I would get around to doing something with them for my career but never knew what, or how, or even when I would do it. As I sat in my chair during the guest’s speech, my mind ventured into my past.

My past is probably the foremost reason that the switch turned on inside me during the lady’s speech. When I was six years old I fainted while walking up the steps to my front porch. My parents couldn’t find out why so they took me to the hospital to get checked out. The doctors ran all their tests and finally the results came back later during the week. I saw my mother on the phone with one of the doctors from Cook Children’s Hospital. She began to tear up and eventually cried uncontrollably. My father was at work at the time so he came home to a distraught family full of raging emotions. When my father hesitantly asked my mother what was wrong, she broke the news to him that his young, six year old son was in fact diagnosed with leukemia.

After many months of struggle and chemotherapy, I eventually began my journey of remission. I have now been in remission for eleven long years now. I believe that my unnamed guest at school was able to tap into my experience with a life threatening disease which ultimately led to a spark inside my soul to give back. I no longer feel driven to make my career solely about me. I no longer feel like a hobby for a career is enough. I am a changed person. I have no one other than a sincere older woman to thank for my life change

Freebie Friday: Meet Steve Abrey

I have been with The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) about seven years. Most of that time was as a volunteer or part time recruiter for Team In Training, the School & Youth (S&Y) program or whatever else was need to promote LLS and its great mission. Three years ago I took a full time position as the program manger for the S&Y program called Pennies for Patients or Pasta for Pennies. This is truly my second career. I retired from Verizon Communications Company in 2002 after a long and successful 32 years. I learned a number of skills at Verizon that I have been able to incorporate into my time with LLS.

The North Texas S&Y program is amazing and certainly my favorite. I absolutely love seeing the smiling faces of elementary students, or any student, when they get excited about helping others and have FUN doing it. Leukemia is the number one form of cancer that affects children and young adults under the age of 20. But, here is what LLS has helped to accomplish… "In 1964 a child’s chance of surviving ALL (Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia), the most common form of childhood leukemia, was 3%. Today about 90% of children survive." We will continue to fight, until that number is 100%!

The Society provides all support and collateral materials free of charge for our program. This may include a school visit for an educational kick off assembly, a pasta lunch from Olive Garden, if applicable, and coin counting assistance from our Bank of America partner. I am also very proud, that our expenses for this program are relatively low and this allows approximately .78 cents of every dollar to go towards our mission: "To cure Leukemia, Lymphoma, Hodgkin ’s disease and Myeloma, and to improve the quality of life of patients and families."

When not working at LLS, you will likely find Steve on the tennis court or walking and playing with Max, the family Shiba Inu dog. However during the winter season, he exchanges his tennis racquet for a pair of skies, and swishes down the Rocky Mountains in Collateral or the Caribous in Canada. That was the site of his heli’ skiing adventure several years ago. Steve continues to enjoy spending time with his wife, Kim, his son (who is getting married, September 2013) and two wonderful step daughters.

If you are interested in joining our fight through the S&Y programs, or know of someone who would please check us out at;

www.schoolandyouth.org/ntx and register your school TODAY! We have some incentives for schools that register before the Christmas break.

Thankful Thursday: Happy Thanksgiving!