Three students from Jericho High School have broken a national fundraising record – previously set by one of the students’ older brothers last year – by collecting more than $430,000 in just seven weeks for the annual Leukemia Lymphoma Society “Students of the Year” campaign.
Team Just Cure It (2.0) was led by co-candidates 15-year-old Harrison Berger, 15-year-old Alexandra Gatoff, and 15-year-old Jake Gershwind of Jericho High School in Long Island, NY. Harrison’s brother Ryan was a co-candidate for Team Just Cure It (1.0), which was the previous national record holder, set in 2019.
“What they have accomplished is nothing short of remarkable,” said Sara Lipsky, President of Leukemia & Lymphoma Society Long Island Chapter. “Cancer doesn’t stop for a pandemic and to see what they accomplished provides families who are fighting cancer together a lot of hope.”
Harrison says the outlook for fundraising was intimidating, including rising to the challenge of beating his brother’s team’s success. But he says he saw the opportunity to develop a network and personal skills of persuasion – including talking CEOs into donating tens of thousands of dollars for LLS – as something that would benefit him long term as well.
Jake says he and his teammates each have a connection to cancer: his grandfather passed away from stomach cancer when he was five years old. That, and the realization that blood cancer is the key to fighting all variety of cancers – including those afflicting children – was the motivation he says he needed to pull together his family and friends to help. “I thought we had zero chance to win, because the previous record was so big,” said Jake. “But I kept telling myself, we gotta keep going.”
“We did lots of planning and had donations set up to come in right away,” says Jake. “Still, you have to be persistent. Not everyone will say yes at first. But we kept following up and didn’t let people say no.”
The Just Cure It (2.0) team also enlisted the help of about 25 of their classmates from Jericho High School and pulled in the donations before the COVID-19 lockdowns went into effect.
“COVID has taught us to look on the positive side,” says Jake. “We’re changing lives, helping people survive. One kid might have better cancer treatment because of the money we raised.”
The Leukemia Lymphoma Society (LLS) is the world‘s largest voluntary health agency dedicated to blood cancer. The LLS Mission: Cure leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin’s disease and myeloma, and improve the quality of life of patients and their families. LLS funds lifesaving blood cancer research around the work and provides free information and support services.
