Johnston's Miss Iowa in the Running for Leukemia & Lymphoma Society Honor

On Saturday, months of dedication and hard work will come to an end for Jessica Pray.

The current has spent the last several weeks conducting fundraising as a nominee for Celebrity of the Year for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

The campaign ends tomorrow at the LLS Gala at The Meadows in Altoona.

A winner for Man, Woman and Celebrity of the Year will be announced.

"I got involved because I wanted to fundraise in honor of The Boy and Girl of the year, local children who are blood cancer survivors," Pray's fundraising page states. "My efforts, with your help, will support the discovery of blood cancer therapies and fund research to find cures."

Pray's platform during her Miss Iowa and Miss America campaigns is blood donation, a cause she has been involved with since her time at Johnston High School.

She was able to seamlessly translate that cause to her work with the LLS Celebrity of the Year challenge.

"Since 1949 the survival rate for many blood cancer patients has doubled or tripled and in some cases quadrupled," her page said. "And many LLS supported therapies not only help blood cancer patients, but are now used to treat patients with rare forms of stomach and skin cancers and are being tested in clinical trials for patients with a range of cancers including lung, brain, breast, pancreatic and prostate cancers."

Donations can still be made at her site.

On June 9, Pray will pass on her title at the next Miss Iowa Scholarship Pageant.

Urbandale resident, and fellow Johnston High School graduate, will be competing for the crown.