This past Thursday marked the end of first week of my Woman of the Year Campaign
What an amazing whirlwind it has been already! I cannot believe how fast this is going!
As you may or may not know, I have been nominated as a candidate for this year’s Man and Woman of the Year campaign benefitting the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. I am so honored and excited to take what I love doing everyday and apply these skills to such an important cause! For a more detailed background on the #StrengthAndStyle campaign, click here.
To start the week, after lots of letter writing and emails, my team and I headed to the campaign kickoff event at Pittsburgh Winery. It was wonderful to finally meet more of the LLS staff and the rest of the MWOY candidates!
[divider] [/divider]I was also honored to meet the Boy and Girl of the year, Connor and Lili, who are both local children battling blood cancers who serve as motivation and inspiration to Man & Woman of the Year candidates in their competition to raise funds and win the titles.
Meet Connor
“Connor was diagnosed at the age of 2 with ALL in 2007. He needed a blood transfusion and then the series of bone marrow and spinal taps began. Connor was considered high risk because he was a slow responder to the grueling treatments and therapies. Today, Connor is 2 years post-treatment and doing well. He remains in remission and goes to a Hematologist-Oncologist every 3 months. He did develop a post treatment Benign Brain Tumor, but is stable and doing remarkably well! Connor is now in 3rd grade and enjoys playing soccer, basketball, Mincecraft and Xbox! Connor also went to the beach for the first time last year and loved it!”
Meet Lili
“Lili was diagnosed on April 1, 2012 at age 2 and 11 months will ALL. She is currently undergoing monthly chemotherapy treatments as a form of maintenance and will finish in December 2014. Lili attends Kindercare in Mount Lebanon and loves to dance, sign, and do arts and crafts.”
She was the cutest thing showing me her pink shoes and sparkly nail polish (great minds think alike)!
[divider] [/divider]Get Involved:
Following the kick-off event, the LLS crew presented the candidates with daily challenges throughout the week to motivate us to get an early start on our fundraising efforts! I am so proud of my team for winning the ‘Tap-In Tuesday’ challenge, which was to push the most on social media (I know you’re all so surprised by that since I blow up your social media anyway). We won a beer basket courtesy of Frank Fueherer Wholesalers that will be auctioned off at an upcoming event!
There is still time for YOU to help us win other challenges too! Thursday’s challenge is to be the first team to secure a corporate sponsor for the Grand Finale event! If your business is interested or you know of a business that may be, please email me at info@allynlewis.com for details!
Friday’s challenge is super simple and can get us an extra $1,000 for the campaign! The candidate who receives the most donations (NUMBER of donations, not AMOUNT) before 11:59PM Sunday night, March 23rd, will win. Literally, every penny makes a difference!
We’re also seeking out stylish and passionate businesses to team up with for projects and events throughout the campaign! Please email Callie at callierose@prettylivingpr.com for details.
Every dollar I raise counts as one vote and the candidate who gets the most votes/raises the most money is named the Man or Woman of the Year. Thanks to your support my efforts will help fund the therapies and treatments and help save lives today. LLS’s continued advancements over the years are responsible for the blood cancer survival rate doubling and tripling; in some cases, the survival rate has even quadrupled. Everyone can contribute in someway whether it be an online donation, contributing an event auction item, and even just be helping us promote every day!
Visit my online fundraising page here!
Save the Dates:
- Friday, April 25, 2014: Join me and the Pretty Living PR team at the Renaissance Pittsburgh as we stand up to cancer with a life-saving Red Show Gala! Click here for tickets! Pre-sale tickets on sale now.
- Monday, April 28, 2014: We’ll be hosting ‘No Menu Monday’ at Bar Marco to raise funds with #StrengthAndStyle.
You can also signup for email updates on the campaign here! Don’t forget to hashtag #StrengthAndStyle on social media!
