Somerset School in North Plainfield, NJ recently raised $1,134.58 through the Pennies for Patients program to benefit The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS). Led by student council advisors Kate Moore and Eleftheria Fiotakis, students collected spare change, encouraged classroom competitions and so much more. Many staff members were extraordinarily generous as well.
Somerset School along with the other participating schools far surpassed the fundraising that New Jersey schools have completed in the past. This year they joined over 600 schools in raising money for the Pennies for Patients program.
Logan Parker of Ocean Township is one of the honored heroes for Monmouth & Ocean counties. “The spare change donated by these children will help to create important change in the lives of children like Logan who was diagnosed in September 2010 with ALL complicated by two separate chromosome abnormalities. Following an umbilical cord stem cell transplant, he relapsed after less than a year and had no other option except for a perfect match bone marrow transplant. Unfortunately, a perfect match donor has not been found. The CTL019 (formerly CART 19) clinical trial, funded in part by The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, has provided Logan with another option, and our family filled with renewed hope. The generosity and compassion of students participating in this program has helped in the advancement of the Society’s mission to find a cure for blood cancers and we are so grateful to all of them helping to give Logan a fighting chance.” Pattie Tucker, Logan’s Grandmother
At the conclusion of the Pennies for Patients campaign once the school raises $500, the top three classes will win a pizza party, an ice cream party, and a snack party, respectively.
All of the money raised through Pennies for Patients goes toward advancing LLS’ mission: cure leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin’s disease and myeloma and improve the quality of life of patients & their families.
To find out more about the Pennies for Patients program or LLS, contact the New Jersey Chapter at 908- 956- 6644 or visit www.schoolandyouth.org/nj.
About The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society
The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society®, headquartered in White Plains, NY, with 68 chapters in the United States and Canada, is the world’s largest voluntary health organization dedicated to funding blood cancer research and providing education and patient services. The LLS mission: Cure leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin’s disease and myeloma, and improve the quality of life of patients and their families. Since its founding in 1949, LLS has invested more than $550 million in research specifically targeting leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma. Last year alone, LLS made 5.1 million contacts with patients, caregivers and healthcare professionals.
For more information about blood cancer, visit www.LLS.org or call the LLS Information Resource Center (IRC), a call center staffed by master’s level oncology social workers and health educators who provide information, support and resources to patients and their families and caregivers. IRC information specialists are available at (800) 955-4572, Monday through Friday, 9 a.m
