Congratulations to Evan Finkle, who raised over $63,000 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society! He won the honor of selecting and naming a research grant after his team, Golden36.

 

For Evan, a sophomore at American Heritage Schools, Palm Beach Campus, this was a huge undertaking because he was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma in 8th grade. “It was the worst year, and I wish no one else ever has to go through what I went through,” Evan said about his initial diagnosis. 

 

After he finished his treatment, the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (LLS) reached out with an invitation to join the Student Visionary of the Year campaign, but he needed some time away from thinking about cancer. The organization reached out again in September of 2022. This time, Evan was ready and accepted. Evan created a team called Golden36, and the team went to work right away.

 

Student Visionaries of the Year is a philanthropic leadership development program and competition in which highly motivated high school leaders embark on a journey of professional growth and fostering professional skills such as entrepreneurship, marketing, and project management - all while raising as much funding and awareness as possible to impact LLS's lifesaving mission. Candidates form and lead fundraising teams in honor of a young, local blood cancer patient, in this case, Evan himself.

 

“I named my team Golden36. I have two Golden Retrievers and my lucky number is 36. My team was my family: my parents, my sister Taylor (8th-grade student at AHS), and my grandparents. We had seven weeks to raise as much money as possible, and my team raised $64,000!” recalls Evan about the process. 

 

The seven weeks of fundraising were from January 11th, 2023, to March 3rd, 2023. They were able to raise $64,000 with the help of friends, family, Evan’s lacrosse world, and corporate matching contributions. They also did a fundraiser on Facebook and organized a tennis tournament fundraiser in his neighborhood. 

 

“It was really cool to see so many people supporting the campaign. I never imagined we could raise so much in seven weeks,” Evan said. “At the end of the fundraiser, I was given a few choices on how the money I raised would be used. I selected cancer research so that hopefully LLS will find a cure for blood cancers one day. This was a great experience, and if anyone is interested in participating in the campaign next year, I highly recommend it. You don’t have to be a survivor to participate.”