Leukemia is a lesser-known cancer often overshadowed by those of the breast, lung, and colon. It is a bone marrow and blood cancer that can be acquired at any age, but is still overlooked. However, it is not forgotten by the students of AHS’s Science National Honor Society, who are participating in a program to raise money for leukemia patients.

All through the month of February the society will be participating in the Pennies for Patients campaign, which is sponsored by the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Through “penny wars,” movie nights and presentations, SNHS students hope to raise both money and awareness of blood cancers.

“In the past, the SNHS has done a lot of work in the courtyard, which is more ecologically-geared, and we thought it would be nice to also add something that was more health and medicine related to our repertoire of activities,” said science teacher and SNHS sponsor Claudia Lemus, who is overseeing the project.

The program, which was supposed to be run throughout the month of February, got off to a slow start because of the snow. Up until this week, there have only been two days of classes, leaving SNHS students little time to fundraise.

Senior Vivian Chan was dismayed at all the time lost. “Unfortunately due to the snow, we were unable to start on time and lost sixteen days of campaigning,” she said.

Though they did lose valuable time, SNHS students were able to kick start their campaign Tuesday with a “penny war” that will take place during all red and white day lunches until the end of the month. The winner will not only be helping leukemia patients, but will also win some money for their class.

“I hope this goes well and I hope that people will come and support us. Every penny counts!” said senior Gina Lee while collecting donations during lunch.

In addition, the SNHS will be sponsoring a movie night tomorrow, February 19 at which they will be showing the movie My Sister’s Keeper, which is about a young girl who is born to be a donor for her sister with leukemia. She eventually sues her parents for medical emancipation and the movie evolves around the relationship between the two sisters. The SNHS will also be giving a presentation at the Just World Festival on February 26 in place of a flex presentation that was canceled due to the snow.

As any SNHS student will tell you, this is not just an empty cause. There is inspiration behind it, which happens to come in the form of Tim King, a high school student and leukemia patient in the area. A portion of the money raised will be going to him to pay for treatments.

“I hope that once the word gets out about what we’re doing, people will be willing to participate and donate to our cause,” said Lemus. “We have a lot of events planned and I just hope that people will come, and take the cause seriously and if nothing else learn something new about blood cancers.”