In special recognition of his leadership and of his students fundraising efforts, Sunnyvale Middle School’s Dewey Huang was named the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s Hero Squad Volunteer Coordinator Rookie of the Year! Hero Squad is a fundraising campaign that raises critical funds needed to support blood cancer research, patients, and their families.
Over the past 16 years, SSD has raised $160,813.21 to help the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. The top fundraising school this year is Sunnyvale Middle School. They’ve raised $3,271.01 this school year and $62,567.02 overall!
All 10 SSD schools have participated in the Hero Squad program over the last 16 years: Bishop, Cherry Chase, Cumberland, Ellis, Fairwood, Lakewood, San Miguel, and Vargas Elementary Schools and Columbia and Sunnyvale Middle Schools.
This year, Dewey took the reigns from SMS teacher Marti Coppage who was also recognized with the Mission Legacy Award.
“My mother taught me that we are given this life so we can be of service to others,” Coppage said. “So when in 2006, Leukemia took my mother’s life, supporting the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s Pennies for Patients, now Hero Squad, the campaign became my mission. It has been my honor to help our students also learn the importance of service, by supporting the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. I’m proud of the work the students at our school have done over the years, and as I move to retirement, I know I’m leaving the program in very good and capable hands.”
“I am happy to have been part of something so positive during a year that has been so hard on everyone,” Huang said. “I look forward to working with LLS again next year.”
LLS’s platform for online giving allows students to use the new virtual social skills they’ve developed to request support from friends and family via online donations. Hero Squad allows students to take the skills they learn and impact the health and future of kids living with blood cancer and can work within any learning environment this year and moving forward.
When schools choose to participate in this specific Social and Emotional Learning (SEL), community-service program, Hero Squad unites students through teamwork, empathy, and respect for others, while providing SEL and STEM curriculum resources. Participating schools receive free SEL resources like:
- Emotional Check-Ins that allow students to have a guided exercise in self-awareness and relationship skills
- Teacher or self-guided reading and writing activities in self-awareness, self-management, relationship skills, social awareness, and responsible decision making
- Role-playing scenarios that allow students to act out real-life situations related to SEL competencies core SEL competencies into your school in an organic, philanthropic, and engaging way.
- A Kindness Calendar that helps to instill mutual respect, positive social engagement, communication, and relationship building
About The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society
The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society® (LLS) is a global leader in the fight against cancer. The LLS mission: cure leukemia, lymphoma, multiple myeloma, and improve the quality of life of patients and their families. LLS funds lifesaving blood cancer research around the world, provides free information and support services, and is the voice for all blood cancer patients seeking access to quality, affordable, coordinated care.
Founded in 1949 and headquartered in Rye Brook, NY, LLS has chapters throughout the United States and Canada. To learn more, visit www.LLS.org. Patients should contact the Information Resource Center at (800) 955-4572, Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., ET.
For additional information visit lls.org/lls-newsnetwork. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
