BGSD NURSE MICKI MOSS, shown here flanked by Cole Hexum (left) and Stella Monteverde-Cakebread, is attempting to raise funds and awareness for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (LLS). Photo courtesy of LLS
Battle Ground School District nurse Micki Moss is campaigning to be Woman of the Year to raise awareness and benefit the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (LLS).
LLS’s Man and Woman of the Year (MWOY) campaign is a 10-week fundraising event wherein the participant who has the most votes or raises the most money by the end of the campaign wins, but the real winners are the patients.
Through her partnership with a couple different home-based businesses, a portion of the sales of every product is going toward her campaign. She’s created a My Thirty-One page, which is a company that sells bags and other items to organize a persons’ home.
Moss is also partnering with her cousin through her Origami Owl business, a multi-million dollar company that makes customized locket jewelry and was founded by a 14-year old girl who could be the poster child for people who dare to dream big. Well, she could be were it not for the fact that LLS has a Boy and Girl of the Year.
Cole Hexum was diagnosed with Burkitt’s leukemia at the age of seven. At nine years old, he is a survivor and loves soccer. Another Portland-metro area child, Stella Monteverde-Cakebread, was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) four years ago. She needed a bone marrow transplant and it was a difficult match but today she is a happy, healthy seventh grader with a passion for science. They’re both attending the LLS MWOY Gala, which will be held Sat., June 21 at the downtown Portland Hilton Hotel. The event is where all the money raised is tabulated and the winner of the campaign is announced. It’s also the day Monteverde-Cakebread turns 13.
“They’re survivors and they’re picked to be our inspiration,’’ Moss said. “They’re our reason why we’re doing this. When you feel like ‘Why am I doing this?’ you look at them. Without LLS these kids might not be around.”
Moss is also hoping to partner with a local restaurant in her fundraising efforts and is planning a Blood Drop campaign. As an organization that fights blood cancer, LLS’s icon is a blood drop much like breast cancer has a pink ribbon. Area residents would be asked to purchase a paper blood drop and all the money collected would go toward LLS’s efforts.
The 2014 Man and Woman of the Year campaign is hoping to bring its 10-year tally to $2 million raised for LLS but no one knows where they stand in the competition. According to Moss, all numbers are kept confidential until the big reveal at the Gala.
As the only candidate for MWOY living in Southwest Washington, Moss is fueled by her first-hand experiences as a nurse in the Pediatric Cancer and Bone Marrow Transplant Unit at Doernbecher Children’s Hospital in Portland. After she left there, Moss felt she had unfinished business and happened upon a brochure for another LLS campaign, Team in Training (TNT). Her husband Eric, who’s in the military, was being deployed and she found it the perfect opportunity to throw herself into a great cause. TNT provides training and support for endurance event fundraisers like marathons, century bike rides and triathlons.
Funds raised for LLS are used for research but also patient services. As Moss explains, from the moment a patient is diagnosed they can call LLS and receive a check to help them with diagnosis-related expenses and there’s an information center staffed with social workers and nurses to answer questions and offer support. In between oncology visits, patients can also call the number to receive direction on nutrition or the protocol they’ve been put on, among other things. LLS can also help patients with co-payments, insurance premiums and other financial support as well as provide a support group for families.
In the Portland-metro area, a huge presence in LLS research is Oregon Health & Science University. In fact, Dr Brian Druker of OHSU is one of two men credited with the discovery of Gleevec, a drug that gave patients dying from chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) a new lease on life and has been effective in fighting a total of 10 different cancers.
“It’s right in our backyard (OHSU) and it’s this huge cancer research center and I don’t think people realize how involved and how integrated it is. Having it right here is just amazing,” Moss said.
To support Micki Moss in her effort to fight blood cancers, go to her website at www.mwoy.org/pages/oswim/oswim14/mmossr. To learn more about the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, go to www.lls.org.
