Grace Goodman

In the fall of 2021, I was nominated to run for Leukemia and Lymphoma Students of the Year 2022. The campaign's goal was to raise money for blood cancer research. I selected a co-captain, and we put together a 10-member team of students from our neighborhood. The campaign ran for nine weeks from January to March, but we started preparing in the fall prior.

We began by compiling spreadsheets of everyone we knew in order for them to get our flyer by mail when the campaign started. We contacted local businesses hoping to get sponsorships, and an orthodontist agreed.

Once the campaign began, we started selling concessions at youth basketball games and hand-delivered flyers to over a thousand neighbors' mailboxes. Then, we held our biggest event, a 3v3 basketball tournament honoring a teacher's son who survived Leukemia. The event had over 150 participants, 50 volunteers, and many spectators. Even though I have never played basketball, I created many brackets for different age groups. I recruited and made schedules for the referees, scorekeepers, floaters, concessionaires, and front desk workers. We sold over 200 t-shirts and 500 raffle tickets. By the end of the campaign, I had worked well over 200 hours.

We won Students of the Year competing against 17 other Central Ohio teams by raising over $50,000 (more than one-third of all money raised). Throughout the campaign, I developed fundraising, communication, and teamwork skills that will be so important going forward in my life. Through this campaign, I realized my love for fundraising and the importance of giving to others. I was so happy to continue this kind of work with my public health internship the following summer, where I got to learn all about fundraising and helping others as a lifelong career.