The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society is the world’s largest nonprofit organization dedicated to funding research for blood cancer, raising 1.8 billion dollars since 1949. By doing this, they have funded 70% of Leukemia and Lymphoma research worldwide. One of the ways in which they raise money and spread the word about their foundation is by a project called the Student Visionaries Program. This program consists of a seven week philanthropic fundraising in which a group of students is in charge of raising the most amount of money during 49 days and the team that raises a higher sum of money is named the Student Visionary of the year.
This year, two students from Bernards have taken on the remarkable task of being candidates for the Student Visionaries of the year, and came in second place by raising over $432,000 from January 8th to March 1st. These incredible students are Keenan Metro ‘27 and Emerson Schroeder ‘27, along with Ellie Cusimano, who does not attend BHS. Their job consisted of pitching their project to different companies in order to obtain corporate sponsorships, which would then help them achieve their financial goal. In addition to this, the candidates gathered a group of 20 students, 8 of them from Bernards, who would then make their official team called BC We Care. This team helped spread the word about the fundraising and contributed immensely with receiving donations. One of the members of the team, Sofia Velasco ‘27, talks about “how amazing it was to have the opportunity to give back to her community and be a part of something bigger than herself”.
Behind all the hard work that the BC We Care team has put into working with the LLS, are the inspiring stories of what lead the students to participate in such events. Keenan Metro, one of the three team candidates, was inspired by her brother, Colin Metro’s, diagnosis with B Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia at the start of his sophomore year of college. “Our world stopped- said Keenan- you never expect it to happen to you and then it does.” Thanks to the amazing advances in cancer research, after undergoing 6 months of chemo and 6 months of weekly treatment, Keenan’s brother has finally returned back to college for his junior year, still, he will be treated until 2027. For Colin and many other blood cancer patients, there is still a long road ahead until reaching complete health. While talking about how cancer has affected her family, Kennan states that it’s “something that no one should ever have to experience” but that it helped “put her life into perspective and realize what’s really important.”
Foundations like the LLS have saved her brother’s life as well as many others, which is why Keenan felt truly inspired to get involved and do whatever she could to support them. “Knowing how much the work that we do actually helps people is pure motivation.” Despite the amount and passion and motivation that this team had for the cause, this project also required lots of time, determination and preparation. It first started in October, when the three candidates first signed up. For the next 3 months, the teammates would meet up to brainstorm ideas, talk with managers on zoom calls and most importantly, to reach out to people and spread the word about how much this fundraiser meant to each of them. Finally, once the preparation and the seven-week program ended, they got to see the results of their hard work. At the final event, called the Grande Finale, students all around North Jersey were able to see the total of all the money they had raised, which was an incredible amount of 2.7 million dollars, BC We Care coming in second with $432,000.
The love and passion that these students have felt for this heartwarming project is something that they will carry with them for the rest of their lives, and hopefully, they will continue to use their passion in such an extraordinary way.
