After finding its roots in 1949, the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) has become the world’s leading nonprofit organization dedicated to funding blood cancer research. NASH’s very own Maisy Wadlow, a senior, is running for LLS’s Student of the Year in the western Pennsylvania/New York region.

Wadlow is the first student from North Allegheny to run for Student of the Year; she is competing against 18 other teams throughout western Pennsylvania and New York. Wadlow has been working hard throughout the school year to raise money for her campaign that is supporting LLS. Her goal is to raise $50,000 for LLS as well as awareness of various blood cancers. 

“My cousin Amy, when she was ten, was diagnosed with leukemia,” Wadlow explained.

Her cousin was put on a clinical trial for a drug that was funded by LLS, so her family was already aware of the organization before she got more involved.

“My cousin, who ran in 2020 for Student of the Year, actually won, and so she nominated me to run this year,” Wadlow said.

She was nominated in August of 2021 and got to work on her campaign right away.

“I was a little bit skeptical because it does entail a lot of work and a lot of my time, but I met with an advisor and talked about how important [LLS is],” Wadlow said.

She added, “I’m running for Student of the Year, but if I win, I mainly just get the title and bragging rights,” Wadlow described. “But [as Student of the Year] I would have to meet weekly with my advisor; I’d have to talk to companies weekly, present to them and ask for donations. I’d do two presentations a week to different companies for sponsorships.” 

She has been raising awareness all throughout her campaign–even before it began. “At the beginning [of the campaign process] I had to write letters and emails to teachers, friends, family, and my neighbors [to inform them about my campaign] before the kickoff on February 11th.”

Part of her campaign involves creating community events and fundraisers to raise money and awareness. Just recently, Wadlow organized an event to help raise funds for her campaign through Monte Cello’s Restaurant. The restaurant matched the amount of money they made and donated it to the campaign. Wadlow said it was exciting for her to see members of the community–even those with whom she was not close–get involved in her campaign.

“I’m also having a March Madness bracket,” Wadlow added.

One of her teammates and fellow NASH senior Will Mensch helped her set up this event, which will be more geared towards high school students.

When she begins planning an event or fundraiser, Wadlow has numerous steps to take.

“First I have to pitch it to my advisor, make sure she’s okay with it, and make sure I get all the logistics correct,” she said. “I have to go to each location and talk to the managers, hang a sign in each location, put in a little donation box, and make sure everyone [involved] knows what the plan is so we can maximize donations.”

As for the presentations she would have to give to various companies, Wadlow has been planning those for a while as well. At the beginning of her campaign, she made mock presentations to practice presenting to companies that would be interested in donating to or promoting LLS.

“I talk about different aspects of LLS and what they do as well as statistics about them, and then I say a little bit about me and why I’m doing [this campaign], what my goal is, and how they can help with that,” Wadlow added. “I think I’ve given seven presentations, and I’ve been lucky enough to have everyone do something–either give a donation, an auction item, or something like that.”

Throughout her busy schedule and time spent planning events and presentations, Wadlow never forgets what she is doing this for.

“Random people come up and ask me, ‘What is this?’ And it’s really cool to tell people what LLS is, how common leukemia and lymphoma really are, and how people who have it have been affected by it.”

Wadlow hopes to raise awareness of various blood diseases while raising funds to help find a cure. 

To support her campaign, contact Maisy Wadlow at [email protected] or visit this link to donate or see how you can help. Her campaign ends on April 1, 2022.