Charity Spotlight: Leukemia & Lymphoma Society

Perfectly healthy humans get blood cancer. You cannot predict it or prevent it. When I learned this, it was all I could do not to burst into tears. That reaction was immediately followed by anger. How unfair! And to top it off, it is very much a “kids cancer.” Seriously?

Luckily, amazing philanthropic organizations like the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society exist to give ordinary people like me the opportunity to help cancer warriors fight the battle they never chose to enter in the first place.

I intimately know what it means to have to choose between paying your bills and affording medical treatment. Illness is HARD, and I believe patients shouldn’t go without because of something beyond their control. Last year, our regional LLS chapter provided $400,000 in copay and medical cost assistance to patients in Northeast Florida. This type of giving makes a difference to people right here, locally. It took very little convincing to encourage me to dedicate 10 weeks of my year toward helping the LLS cause.

The Man & Woman of the Year campaign is a 10-week national effort coordinated by the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society aimed at raising capital and awareness to fund research for cancer treatments. Started in 1990, the Man & Woman of the Year campaign has raised over $222 million. As recently as 1964, children diagnosed with pediatric leukemia had only a 3% survival rate. Today that has increased to approximately 90%. The research LLS funds MATTERS! Parents and children are directly affected by people like us who decide to give what we can to support work done around the U.S. to develop treatments and a cure for cancer.

It is an honor to be selected as a candidate for Woman of the Year, and a responsibility I am taking seriously. This is my opportunity to make a positive difference for future generations who will struggle with the disease. It is important to know that the  research funded by LLS goes toward creating medicine used to treat all types of cancers.

As a candidate, I am running in honor of Bella and Calvin (pictured above). They are two incredible kids, undoubtedly not unlike your own, who have recently looked cancer in the eye and said, “Not me! Not today,” and have taken their battle by storm. They have siblings and parents, they have school hobbies and friends, and they are into selfies and soccer. Bella or Calvin may even be in your son or daughter’s class. They are fighting cancer, and they are winning.

In addition to traditional fundraising and corporate asks, I am making it my mission to see Bella and Calvin smile alongside their families during my campaign run. For that reason, I will be hosting a Family Night Beach Bash at the new Rockaway Garden Center event venue in Jacksonville Beach on May 18 from 5:30-8:30 p.m. We will have staff on hand to run fun activities for kids of all ages, as well as food and beverages. For our 21 and over crowd, a complimentary adult beverage bar will also be onsite.

So let’s celebrate the tiny humans who are fighting and dealing with an insurmountable problem. Let’s give these kids and parents a night of carefree, salt-in-your-hair, sand-in-your-toes family fun that celebrates their strength while raising funds that will help future families facing the same challenges.

With me, let’s be the men and women who make a difference this year.

How You Can Help

Donate: No amount is too small!

Sponsor: Buy a table at the LLS Man & Woman of the Year Gala or advertise onsite via various red carpet-style opportunities!

Purchase Tickets: Attend my Family Night Beach Bash in Jax Beach on May 18th! Or celebrate “adult style” with us at the LLS Man & Woman of the Year Gala on June 2 at the Hyatt in downtown Jax. 

About the Author

Jennie Mazur, owner and contractor with Tailored Campaigns is a Jacksonville Beach resident where she lives with her fiance Ben and their 1.5-year-old, 90-pound Goldendoodle named Parker. While she wishes Parker contributed more to the family business, she has resolved he will act more or less as a budding “social media star” only.  Tailored Campaigns specializes in nonprofit PR and marketing, and Jennie also serves on the Board of Directors for L’Arche Jacksonville and looks forward to serving on the Board for the newly formed 501c3 Project Bravo Zulu.

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