When juggling school, extracurriculars, appointments and their club ChapsAgainstCancer, juniors Anna De Leon and Shaunak Hoskote, who had their own battles through cancer, find a way to balance it all.
The two lead a dedicated group of students continuously taking on the formidable challenge to publicize their fight against cancer. The club is making a concrete difference through community outreach and their participation in the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) Student Visionaries of the Year program.
The club routinely meets to discuss the next steps to take and brainstorm events, fundraising and awareness campaigns. They’re driven to raise awareness because the allocation of funding for pediatric cancer research is alarmingly low. While the National Cancer Institute’s budget is substantial, only about 4%, approximately $250 million, is dedicated to forms of childhood cancer.
“We do different projects throughout the school year,” De Leon Said. “But at the beginning of the year, we were making gift baskets for cancer patients. We also worked with some organizations like LIVESTR
ONG and Big Love.”
These partnerships, along with their own initiatives, form a foundation for the club’s multifaceted approach to combating childhood cancer. Beyond gift baskets, ChapsAgainstCancer members actively participate in fundraising events and partnerships with organizations like LLS to amplify their impact.
LLS plays a vital role in supporting patients and groundbreaking research. The establishment is the world’s largest voluntary health organization dedicated to fighting blood cancers. The LLS Student Visionaries of the Year program creates an annual leadership development program for high school students.
During this seven-week program, students have the opportunity to raise money in order to further the awareness and research of blood cancers. ChapsAgainstCancer’s goal of $50,000 will directly contribute to the research.
“This is my first full schedule back since being home for treatment, but it has been cool to participate in the LLS campaign because I’m still going through treatment, and I still experience how hard it is,” Hoskote said. “That’s why our mission pillars for raising money are specifically for research and new therapies for patients because I personally had allergic reactions to treatments, along with plenty of negative side effects.”
The club raises money in a number of ways. These include posting QR codes with a direct connection to the donating website along with sending links out through social media and emails. The club also partnered with Cabo Bob’s for a profit-share Feb 5, where a portion of the proceeds supported the cause.
“If you think about it, most people when they are diagnosed with cancer have lived plenty of experiences, but these kids haven’t seen anything, or even experienced life at all,” De Leon said. “Just knowing that such a small part of federal funding goes to these kids is just kind of what made me want to do the research pillar.”
Club founders De Leon and Hoskote believe the 4% allocation highlights a critical need for better funding in order to make advancements in cancer research and direct attention toward pediatric oncology. ChapsAgainstCancer works daily to prove the importance for more recognition toward the subject and the need for an increase in research opportunities.
“I would say just try and reach out and spread the word as much as possible, because you also don’t know who else has been affected by something similar,” Hoskote said. “The more you spread the word, the higher chance you can get in contact with someone who knows the experiences and knows how to help. Connections mean the most for spreading awareness and they are a big part of it.”
