Northeast Ohio schools join competition to raise funds for blood cancer research

CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) - September is Blood Cancer Awareness Month. Every three minutes, someone in the United States is diagnosed with blood cancer.

An incredible fundraising effort is about to get underway once again in schools throughout Northeast Ohio with a focus on finding a cure.

The previous event raised more than $825,000 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

“I just remember walking into the gym and the gym is packed and the kids are excited,” says Strongsville High School Senior Cal Klingzing.

Cal and his ‘Team Persevere’ organized a community basketball game with the Harlem Wizards, helping him raise more than $94,000 dollars in a seven-week fundraising blitz.

“That was my moment of ‘Oh Wow,’ the bigger picture, like we’re helping so many people by doing this,” says Klingzing.

Strongsville is one of more than 30 school districts throughout Northeast Ohio that competed in the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s Student Visionary of the Year program.

Each district selects a student to lead a team, network with business and local leaders, organize events and raise money.

The team who raises the most, wins. The program also includes an ‘Honored Hero’.

Summer Gray is the hero of 2023. She was diagnosed with lymphoma at just 19 years old.

Summer met with all the students competing in the fundraiser, telling them about her diagnosis and her treatment.

She became the inspiration behind their mission. “They looked at me in not a way of like, oh she’s broken, but they looked at me in a motivational way, like in the movies when the coach gives the team a big speech,” says Summer.

The teams raised a combined $825,000 for LLS. The money will go to research, advocacy and financial support for patients like Summer.

“Co-pays add up and you have so many expenses and my dad has great insurance but it’s so expensive,” says Summer, adding, “To me, cancer itself is not scary. Chemo is scary. Knowing that you had to fight, was scary.”

Summer wanted the students to know they were a big part of her fight.

Klingzing was the 2023 Student Visionary Runner-Up.

It is a special honor, but he says what’s even better, is the feeling that he made a difference in the mission to end blood cancer.

“This experience for me was a look into other people’s lives, what they go through every day and makes you take a step back and be like, I have it pretty good myself,” says Klingzing.

The 2024 LLS Student Visionary of the Year campaign is just getting started. So far there are 20 student-led teams.

The goal is to have at least 33 and to raise $1 million.

If you’re interested in applying or donating, head to: LLS Student Visionaries of the Year Cleveland

After treatment for lymphoma, doctors told Summer she was cancer free last October.

However, just this summer, Summer was diagnosed with thyroid cancer and will have to undergo surgery.

She says she’s incredibly optimistic about her recovery.

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