Fox Chapel Area senior named a Student of the Year by the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society

When a classmate and friend asked Hanna Essey to help raise money and awareness for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society last school year, the Fox Chapel Area High School student did not hesitate.

She assisted with then junior Sarah Giuffre’s campaign and the team raised around $30,000.

Now, both seniors, it was time for Essey to lead the effort.

In a seven-week fundraising challenge, her team of 10 called Kick Out Cancer raised a little more than $50,500 between Feb. 10 and April 1.

They sent out mailers and hosted a fundraiser at Pure Barre in Fox Chapel.

Essey said she became progressively passionate about the cause throughout the campaign. Hers competed against 17 other high school fundraising teams.

They raised more than $830,000 combined toward the mission of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, which is to find a cure for leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin’s disease, myeloma and improve the quality of life of patients and their families.

Essey was among the top fundraisers and named a Student of the Year for her efforts. The top earners were recognized at a banquet at Heinz Field in early April.

“I’d never been to an event like it, and everyone was very happy about what we were doing,” said Essey, 18, of Fox Chapel. “The other candidates, you could tell, were all passionate about it. We were just trying to help LLS in any way we could.”

The fundraising challenge is in its fifth year.

Daryl Rakosky, spokesman for the LLS Eastern Great Lakes region, lauded Essey and her team’s efforts.

“She believes raising money for such a good cause became something she was passionate about and she decided she wanted to be more involved,” Rakosky said. “Hanna secured corporate sponsorships, auction baskets and did a great job encouraging her team members to reach out to their network to raise funds. She is a great leader.”

The Students of the Year were Landon York and Andrew Popp, seniors at Upper St. Clair. They raised more than $190,000.

Essey hopes more students get involved in LLS and similar organizations in order to help people.

“Don’t be scared to approach anyone about raising money for it,” she said. “Getting involved is the biggest part. Getting awareness out that these kind of things are going on. … Just getting the word out is a good thing.”

The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society was founded in 1949 and is a global leader in the fight against cancer and the leading source of free information, education and support for blood cancer patients, caregivers, survivors, families and healthcare professionals.

Through programs like Students of the Year, LLS has invested more than $1.5 billion since its inception in research to advance breakthrough therapies.

More information about LLS and its programs is available at lls.org.