Compassion Floods in for Classmates through Donations to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society

Despite the economic downturn stifling most people’s spending, students at Forest Park Middle School in Franklin, Wis. are ready reach into their piggy banks. One penny at a time, students help put another drop in the bucket toward curing cancer.

Things are a little more personal for students at Forest Park because the word cancer comes with a familiar name and face. Sutton Beck, a 13-year-old eighth grader at the school was diagnosed with Burkitt’s Lymphoma on August 1, 2005.

According to The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS), a voluntary health organization dedicated to funding blood cancer research, lymphoma is a cancer that originates in the bone marrow or lymphatic tissue as the result of a genetic injury to the DNA of a single cell. “My cancer was very aggressive so my treatment was also very aggressive and lasted six months. Now I am doing well,” Sutton said. Lymphoma is the sixth most common cancer in the United States with an estimated 574,525 Americans living with it in 2008.

This year Sutton is an honored hero for LLS and her twin brother August is a super hero sibling. Honored heroes are Wisconsin student survivors of blood cancer who work to educate other students about blood cancer and encourage them to raise funds to find a cure. “When you have cancer, life is like a roller coaster and no kids need to go through what I went through,” Sutton said, “We need to find something other than chemotherapy and radiation, so no one loses their hair.” The mission of LLS is to cure leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin’s disease and myeloma, and improve the quality of life of patients and their families.

Forest Park was ranked third in the state last year after the students raised $4,408.72 for the Pennies for Patients program run by LLS. This is an average of $7.16 donated per student. Student council advisor and teacher Amy Jarmuz said, “…the students and teachers were moved to tears to know that one of our own students faced so many struggles at her young age. The whole community of Forest Park wanted to do whatever we could to support our classmate and student.” The school was made a part of the Lifesaver’s Club, an elite club of high-achieving fundraising schools, for raising over $2,009 in 2009. Top classrooms and schools have the chance to win pizza parties and other prizes based on the amount of money they raise. “They are two students with a great love of life and have so many things to share with all of us…we are so proud of both of them and what they have overcome,” said Jarmuz.

Pennies for Patients gives students a unique opportunity to help other kids who are sick with cancer. Through donations of spare change more than $100 million has been raised since 1992. The donations fund research and patient service programs. “We want to encourage our Franklin community to help us by donating any spare change or donation that they can to help our efforts at Forest Park Middle School in this year’s drive,” said Jarmuz. All donations can be delivered to the main office in support of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

If you or someone you know is in need of assistance due to a blood disease contact the Wisconsin LLS Chapter at 200 S. Executive Drive, Suite 203, Brookfield, WI 53005. For more information visit www.LLS.org or www.schoolandyouth.org/wi for the Pennies for Patients campaign.