Giving back to the community is something that Alex Perdikis understands intrinsically. This year, he was nominated as a candidate in the “Man and Woman of the Year” fundraising campaign for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s National Capital Area chapter. This was an extreme honor, and one that Alex took very seriously.
Each year the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) chooses 20 candidates for the campaign. The candidates are tasked with increasing awareness of leukemia and lymphoma and raising funds to contribute to research and fight these diseases. The campaign lasts approximately 10 weeks, which is not a lot of time to get a large grassroots campaign up and running.
Last year’s group of candidates in the D.C. area managed to raise over $1.2 million dollars to fight leukemia and lymphoma. The National Capital Area chapter of the LLS was astonished to find that they were the chapter with the largest total, but they hoped that their 2014 candidates could surpass that total this year.
That hope was not misplaced, as the candidates for the 2014 campaign broke their previous record and raised an astonishing $1.6 million. As the saying goes, “no man is an island,” and that is true with this sort of massive fundraising event. Alex Perdikis and his team were proud to have contributed over $146,000 to the chapter’s total amount raised.
Competition helps to drive all sorts of efforts, of course, and the “Man and Woman of the Year” campaign is no different. For his efforts, Alex was grateful to finish the competition as the first runner up for 2014. He acknowledges that he couldn’t have done it alone, and his team captains Dresden Koons and Debra Latiolais were a huge part of the reason that he did so well.
The LLS uses funds raised each year to fund treatments, research and therapies that help those suffering from leukemia and lymphoma. Because of the research they have spearheaded, the blood cancer survival rate continues to grow. Donations and volunteers help to ensure that success stories continue to occur every day.
Donations to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society still count, even though the fundraising competition is over. Since all donations are completely tax deductible, this is a great opportunity to give to your local chapter and help fund research and treatments that mean the world to those suffering from leukemia and lymphoma.
Alex is looking forward to the next fundraising campaign for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, but that doesn’t mean that he’s not still donating to various charities in multiple ways. By donating time and money to the needs around us, we can help to make our communities a better place in which to live.