Despite the difficulties COVID-19 posed in fundraising and organizing outreach events, Katie Ditter (11), alongside her Team Answer for Cancer, was able to fundraise $40,000 during the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s (LLS) Student of the Year Campaign in the 2021-22 season. Similar to the 2020-21 season, her team ultimately won the competition. 

Ditter has been competing in  the Student of the Year Campaign since eighth grade. The competition is a fundraising challenge from Jan. to March between teams in San Diego county. Teams raise money to donate to blood cancer research as well as patients battling the disease. 

“My cousin had originally started the team [Answer for Cancer] when I joined,” Ditter said. “I was inspired just seeing how inspired he was to contribute to curing cancer, and I wanted to help make that impact too.” 

While Ditter was a team member for the first two years she participated in the competition, she progressed to the candidate position in the 2022 competition and will continue in this role this year. Candidates are responsible for leading their teams. Some of their duties include hosting meetings, distributing information to the rest of the team, and planning events. Ditter’s team has three candidates to split all the responsibilities, one of which includes requesting for sponsorships. 

“One of our sponsors is the CEO of Sprouts within San Diego,” Ditter said. “He has helped us a lot by donating and allowing us to have boxes at Sprouts that people can donate at.” 

Although the competition officially starts in Jan., Ditter said a majority of the work starts pre-season. This year, the team’s first meeting was on Nov. 19. 

“We have to recruit team members and start planning events,” Ditter said. “Once we sign up, we’ll get a fundraising page to customize. We also ask each of our teammates to write a one-page letter to send out to potential donors. In it, they write why they’re a part of the cause, where the money will go, and what LLS has accomplished. We try to make the letters really personal.”

Team members send their letters to approximately 50 people each, while candidates send them to 100. Ditter said the letters are crucial as 80% of their donations come from personal requests, whether that be through a letter or an email. 

LLS notifies the team when their contributions have helped find treatments for certain types of blood cancers. 

“It’s amazing seeing that impact,” Ditter said. “One of my relatives died from cancer [when I was a candidate] and one of my close family friends was diagnosed. Sometimes I get responses from people who are donating also saying that their relatives died. We’re all just trying to fight this disease, and I’m just glad I can make a difference.”

This year, Ditter’s main goals as a candidate are to reach the $100,000 mark in fundraising and to be more organized. 

“My cousin, [who started the team], graduated when it was my first year as a candidate,” Ditter said. “Adjusting [after he graduated] was difficult and I felt really behind. Some of our events, such as a poker night, weren’t successful either, so in March, once the season ended, I started planning for this season really early.”

Through the competition, Ditter said she has been able to make connections with students outside of Westview. 

“Since the competition is oriented towards San Diego county as opposed to a school, it’s really cool because you get to meet a lot of different people that you wouldn’t normally meet,” Ditter said. “Everyone is just really motivated to make an impact.”