[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 58 (Tuesday, April 4, 2017)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E435-E436]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      HONORING STUDENTS WHO RAISE MONEY FOR LEUKEMIA AND LYMPHOMA

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. LAMAR SMITH

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, April 4, 2017

  Mr. SMITH of Texas. Mr. Speaker, today, I want to recognize a few 
high school students from San Antonio and the surrounding area who 
raised over $500,000 in 7 weeks while campaigning for the Students of 
the Year title, a campaign launched by The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.
   Ella Behnke, 16, a senior at Alamo Heights High School, raised over 
$334,000 in 7 weeks to become The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's ``2017 
Student of the Year.'' Ella was diagnosed with non-Hodgkins 
Lymphoblastic Lymphoma at the age of 2. She has been in remission for 
several years now.
   P.J. O'Toole, 15, a freshman at Smithson Valley High School in 
Spring Branch, Texas, raised over $50,000 during the 7-week campaign, 
becoming the ``2017 Student of the Year Runner Up.'' P.J. was the only 
freshman to run in the campaign against 11 upper classmen.
   P.J. is also a leukemia survivor. At the age of 6, he was diagnosed 
with Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML). With only a 70 percent chance of 
survival, today P.J. is in remission.
   Raising over $50,000 each means that both Ella Behnke and P.J. 
O'Toole will have the opportunity to name an LLS research grant in 
honor of whomever they choose.
   For the South Central Texas Chapter--San Antonio Inaugural Campaign, 
12 candidates raised an outstanding $502,000 this year.
   The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's Students of the Year campaign is a 
fundraising competition in communities across the United States in 
which participants vie for the title of Student of the Year. They raise 
funds for blood cancer research in honor of local children who are 
blood cancer survivors.
   In appreciation of all they have done, Mr. Speaker, I ask my 
colleagues to join me in thanking them for their efforts to advance the 
treatment of Leukemia and Lymphoma.

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