IMPORTANT POST: Everybody wins when cancer loses

Did you know that every 3 minutes, someone in the US is diagnosed with a blood cancer?  And that every 9 minutes, someone in the US dies of a blood cancer?

When I was approached early last summer by the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) about being nominated for the 2017 Man & Woman of the Year campaign, I was both honored (I was the first male nominee!) and intimidated (2015’s Man of the Year was only the host of CNBC’s Fast Money).  But ultimately, I knew I wanted to do whatever I could to help and accepting this nomination was the first step – through programs like Man & Woman of the Year, LLS has invested more than $1 billion in research to advance breakthrough therapies that have doubled, tripled, and in some cases quadrupled the survival rate for some blood cancers.  And as a team member of last year’s campaign, I got a glimpse of the individuals and families that have been impacted by this terrible disease.  It was heartbreaking, but also inspiring.

And with that, meet Shauna:

She’s a 12-year-old survivor of Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) and the LLS Girl of the Year.  In her own words, “I was diagnosed with ALL in June 2009.  I received intense chemo treatments but am happy to say I am cured of cancer and granted my happily ever after!”  I had the pleasure of meeting Shauna in February and her story is truly moving.  As a Man of the Year nominee, it is my privilege to compete in her honor during this campaign and it is my goal to raise over $50,000 for those battling blood cancers all around the world.

As a tribute to those who have gone through this ordeal, I will be competing in this campaign under the “Team Strength” banner – working with an incredible team.  Over the next 10 weeks (beginning today and concluding June 15), we will be hosting many great events, sharing fun projects and doing what we can to help raise awareness.  I know that raising $50,000 in 10 weeks will not be easy, but I truly believe we can do it!

There are so many ways you can help:

• Please visit http://www.mwoy.org/pages/nj/nnj17/mbasilo to make your generous donation to support this journey.  Trust me when I say that ANY donation helps, as every dollar raised counts as one vote and the titles are awarded to the man and woman with the most votes at the end of the campaign.

• You can also mail a check payable to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society with the name “Matt Basilo” in the memo line.  Email me for address information.

• “Like” our Facebook page to stay up-to-date and excited on our progress at www.facebook.com/LLSMWOTY.  Be the first to know about our events, raffles and auctions!

• There are incredible sponsorship opportunities available for this nation-wide campaign as well.  Please reach out to me for more information!

     Through your generosity and assistance, I am confident that we can surpass my goal of $50,000 and that we can come one step closer to curing leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin’s disease and myeloma.  And until then, we can help to improve the quality of life of patients and their family.

The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society is currently funding hundreds of researchers in over 15 countries. I want to make that number grow. My goal is to raise over $50,000 to support additional research. We invite you to believe by supporting our campaign.  Remember:  Everybody wins when cancer loses.

Thank you in advance for all of your support,

Matt