Hey everyone!

Thank you for visiting my fundraising page! On June 12th, I'm participating in the Sleepy Hollow Triathlon with Team in Training to benefit the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (LLS)! Proceeds benefit leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin lymphoma, and myeloma research.

I want you to take a minute to meet two very special young ladies. Meet Julia, age 7 (right), and her big sister Jocelyn, age 9 (left). Julia was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia at age 4 1/2. All of the sudden, the little girl who was always filled life and energy was too tired to even walk to the car from her house. In a heartbeat, Julia's life was turned upside down.

Julia wasn't the only person affected by this horrific disease. Jocelyn, as Julia's brave big sister, made many sacrifices as Julia began her difficult journey. For instance, Jocelyn spent her entire 7th birthday in the hospital with Julia as she was getting a spinal tap. Being a big sister is not always easy. Being a big sister to a sick little sister is even harder.

Thanks to LLS and the love and support of her family, Julia is now in remission and well on her way to being her normal self!!!

Although these two girls are young, their story is an empowering one. Through TNT, I am dedicating my trialthon to not only to Julia, the little girl who has already survived so much, but also to Jocelyn, the selfless big sister who is a model to us all.

Did you know...every ten minutes, someone dies from a blood cancer. This statistic represents nearly 148 people each day, or more than six people every hour. Leukemia causes more deaths than any other cancer among children and young adults under the age of 20. In 2010, an estimated 137,260 people in the United States were diagnosed with leukemia, lymphoma or myeloma.

Did you also know THERE IS HOPE! Of the 39 new cancer drugs approced by the F.D.A. since 2000, almost half (19) were approved as treatment for blood cancer patients, and many of these were advanced with LLS support. Five have already been approved and ten are recommend for treatments for other cancers (such as breast cancer). All 19 are being tested for patients beyond those whom they were first developed, including 14 that show promise for patients with solid tumors or non-malignant diseases.

Thank you SO much for your support! I couldn't pull this off without all the wonderful people in my life - people like you!

Grab your purple shirts and see you at the finish line!

-J