Students' goal: Raise $70K for blood disorders treatment

SUBMITTED PHOTO

Charlotte Lab School 10th graders Amayia Whitehead (from left), Aniya Simpson and Jade Smith raised more than $70,000 for research and treatment of blood disorders as part of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's Student Visionaries of the Year program.

At age 16, Jade Smith is already making a difference.

Smith, a sophomore at Charlotte Lab School, is leading a team to raise awareness for blood cancers as a part of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s Student Visionaries of the Year program.

LLS is a nonprofit organization that funds lifesaving blood cancer research and provides free information and services.

Student Visionaries of the Year is a philanthropic leadership program for high school students to spend seven weeks raising money for health conditions like leukemia and lymphoma. The team who raises the most money will earn the Student Visionaries of the Year title.

Smith and the rest of Team Unite Into the Light aims to raise $70,000 toward research and the treatment of blood disorders.

“I had a few different family members and just friends of the family growing up that have struggled with cancer, not particularly blood cancer, but just cancer in general,” Smith explained. “I've kind of seen how that has impacted them and like their lives and all of the people around them.”

Leukemia is the most common cancer diagnosed in children and adolescents under age 20, according to LLS.

The five-year survival rate among African Americans with acute myeloid leukemia is 11.5% lower than their white counterparts, according to a 2018 study by the peer reviewed journal Scientific Reports.

Smith is leading a multi-generational team of individuals ages 12-82 and the only African American young leader among 23 Charlotte-based teams. There are four other team members that attend her school, including some of her best friends.

“I kind of brought them to the program, and then we all learned about it together,” she said.

At the kickoff celebration on Jan. 12 in Charlotte, her teammate Aniya Simpson, 15, had a chance to meet a 5-year-old girl named Piper Wiggs who was diagnosed with Leukemia in September of 2021. She lives in Charlotte and is currently undergoing treatment and enjoys anything Disney, Halloween, pizza, and purple.

“I saw Piper and her mom there and she shared her story,” said Simpson, who is a sophomore at Charlotte Lab School. “I was really about to cry because she just said from birth, that she had to go through all these surgeries at three weeks old. I was like, that's awful. I can't imagine what she's going through and everything. So, I feel like everything for Piper and patients like her, this funding could really help.”

Team Unite Into The Light’s campaign ends March 4. The Grand Finale Celebration will take place March 4 at the Charlotte Convention Center.

For more information on donating, visit https://events.lls.org/nc/svoyclt23/jsmith.

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