For the Tomahawk Leader
TOMAHAWK – Local student Neenah Fuste, a junior in high school, was recently nominated to participate in “Students of the Year,” the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS)’s leadership development philanthropy program for high school students.
“Students of the Year is a prestigious seven-week fundraising campaign benefiting LLS with a Grand Finale Celebration Gala on March 11 in Madison,” a release from LLS said. “High school candidates create a multigenerational team to help them meet their fundraising goal.”
In an effort to bring awareness to the prevalence of blood cancer and to get more students involved with Students of the Year, Fuste presented to Tomahawk Elementary School’s Student Council to see if they would be interested in holding a Blood Drop Challenge Fundraiser at TES.
The Student Council children were up to the challenge and successfully raised $926.00, which will be donated to LLS.
“I’m so excited for the TES Student Council,” Fuste stated. “They did a great job learning about blood cancer and then bringing the whole school together for a fun fundraising event.”
Fuste started the campaign with a fundraising goal of $50,000.00. After only 14 days, the team had raised $12,481.00.
If Fuste meets her goal, every dollar can be allocated directly to the LLS Children’s Initiative, a new program that will focus on finding less toxic treatments for pediatric blood cancer patients, LLS said.
“We still have a long way to go to meet our goal, but I’m hopeful,” Fuste stated. “I’m honored to be the only Students of the Year candidate representing Northcentral Wisconsin. We live in such a great community, and I’m excited to show everyone that even students in rural areas can make a big impact in the world.”
Someone is diagnosed with blood cancer every three minutes, and leukemia is the #1 most diagnosed cancer in children.
Fuste started fundraising for LLS in 2014, when her younger brother was going through three and a half years of chemotherapy for acute lymphoblastic leukemia.
“I never want anyone else to have to go through what my brother and family went through, and that is serving as my inspiration over this seven-week journey,” Fuste said.
To support the Students of the Year fundraising campaign and make a tax deductible donation, visit www.events.lls.org/wi/madisonsoy22/nfuste or mail a check made payable to The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society to Neenah Fuste, P.O. Box 498, Tomahawk, Wis., 54487.
For more information, email Fuste at [email protected].