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Community Corner

The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society Honors Atlanta Student Andre McCoy

As students go back to school this month, The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) will begin its Pennies for Patients Campaign at schools across the country. Pennies for Patients is a service learning, character education and philanthropy campaign that gives students a unique experience making a difference through teamwork—working together to aid thousands of children and adults in the fight against blood cancers. To kick off the campaign, LLS selects a local student as inspiration that has survived leukemia.

Andre McCoy is in the ninth grade at B.E.S.T. Academy in Atlanta. In February 2006, he was diagnosed with a rare type of leukemia called acute lymphoblastic leukemia, Philadelphia Chromosome positive, or ALL Ph+. Andre went through several years of treatment, including chemotherapy and radiation, but is now happy and healthy! Andre loves running track, playing PS3 and watching movies.

Andre enjoys being a part of the Pennies for Patients Campaign. "It helps kids like me get better and it inspires me to help others," says Andre.

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During the 2012-2013 school year, 783 Georgia schools participated in the Pennies for Patients Campaign and raised more than $663,000 for LLS.

In 2012, LLS invested $76 million in research that was needed to improve outcomes for blood cancer patients of all ages. Of this, $5 million was pediatric-specific, but about $60 million was focused on cancers that occur in children. Furthermore, LLS invests in research to develop new targeted therapies, including targeted drug combinations, that promise to be more effective and a less toxic treatment for leukemia and lymphoma patients of all ages. Leukemia causes more deaths among children and young people under the age of 20 than any other disease.

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For more information about LLS’s School & Youth Programs, visit www.schoolandyouth.org/ga.

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