Last summer, Owen Hess, a sophomore at West Ranch High School, said he was studying at the University of California, Irvine, in the Akbari Lab where they focused on neurocritical care after cardiac arrest and Alzheimer’s disease prevention when he became interested in the funding of medical research.
“I noticed that everyone in the lab was kind of hard-pressed at measuring the quantities of supplies that they used because they didn’t get a ton of funding,” said Hess.
After he noticed that, he did some research on how he would be able to help fundraise for medical research and that is how he came across the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society Student Visionaries of the Year program.
Hess said he felt that this nonprofit organization’s three pillars aligned with his own values.
“The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s mission is to provide support for cancer patients in need. Its three main pillars are patient support, patient advocacy and research,” said Hess. “I think that it’s very important for all people to be helping and do their part in helping towards scientific research that will help humans in the future.”
He added that he felt like being a part of this organization gave him the ability to make a direct impact on people’s lives and cancer research.
He said that he and his co-candidates Colton Fernandez and Grace Ha created a pitch to ask local businesses if they would like to sponsor his team and be willing to donate money toward the campaign.
Hess said one of the reasons he liked supporting the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society is because sponsors could see where their money was going to directly.
“If a company chose to donate $8,000 in a sponsorship, that donation would go towards funding the doctor visits for like 80 cancer patients or something like that. It really shows how the money affects individual people,” said Hess.
So far this year, he said, his campaign team has been able to raise almost $30,000 toward its $50,000 goal.
He added that considering the recent L.A. wildfires, the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society will be donating a portion of its income to cancer patients who were affected by the fires.
Hess said, “I know many families in our community and beyond have really been impacted by these fires and it’s crucial for me and I think a lot of people, if they can, to help support other community members and help build them up in this time of need.”
March 28 will be the end of Hess’ campaign for the year, but he is hopeful he will be able to reach his goal of $50,000 since he has already raised over half of that goal.
To donate to Hess’ campaign, visit tinyurl.com/yc75jz44.
