North Wales Resident is Named LLS's Woman of the Year

A North Wales woman and a Philadelphia man have been named the winners of this year’s Man & Woman of the Year of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s (LLS) Eastern PA Chapter.

The two winners, Joshua Schoppe of Philadelphia, and Mary Cushing Doherty of North Wales, raised $82,358 and $120,746 respectively, to support LLS’s goal to find cures for blood cancers and ensure that patients have access to lifesaving treatments.

During a spirited 10 week fundraising period beginning with a kickoff celebration, candidates across the country competed in honor of a local boy or girl who is a blood cancer survivor to raise the most funds to ensure a world without blood cancers.

Candidates and their campaign teams were judged solely on fundraising success, each dollar counting as one vote. Their totals are then considered for the national title. Candidates in each LLS chapter across the country vie for the local title, and the highest fundraisers earn the title of National Man & Woman of the Year. The national titles will be awarded to the top fundraisers in the country, to be announced this summer.

Schoppe who is a native to Philadelphia, holds a Biology degree from LaSalle University and a Master’s of Public Health degree from the Thomas Jefferson University School of Population Health. As Senior Director of the Regional Network Office for the Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center at Thomas Jefferson University, Schoppe leads the clinical research management effort of twenty-five regional affiliates.

Doherty is a partner for the Norristown/Doylestown, Pennsylvania law firm, High Swartz LLP. She participated in Man & Woman of the Year in-honor of her husband, Jim, who passed away from non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma after battling the disease after 13 months. Doherty is also involved with LLS’s Light The Night and serves on the Advocacy committee.

“Congratulations to our winners, and to all of our candidates and campaign team members who participated in this year’s Man & Woman of the Year campaign,” said Ellen Rubesin, LLS Eastern PA Executive Director. “These exceptional volunteers are all passionate and determined individuals, and leaders in their communities. Together, we are getting closer to LLS’s goal of a world without blood cancer.”

Judy Willner of Bryn Mawr received the 2018 Mission Award for her impact in advancing awareness for the mission of LLS in the community throughout her 10-week fundraising campaign. She has been a teacher for the past 39 years. The last 20 years she has taught in the Philadelphia School District, where she teaches literacy skills to inner city students.

Corporate sponsors included Publicis Health Media, Digitas Health, and Ballinger. The media sponsor was Philadelphia magazine.

LLS is the world’s leading non-profit voluntary health organization dedicated to finding cures for blood cancers and ensuring that patients have access to lifesaving treatments. Every nine minutes someone in the U.S. dies of a blood cancer. Through programs like Man & Woman of the Year, LLS has invested more than $1.2 billion in research to advance breakthrough therapies. In 2017 alone, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved 18 therapies to treat patients with blood cancers, including some entirely new agents and some new uses for already approved drugs. The funds raised through LLS's Man & Woman of the Year are used for:

• Research to advance targeted therapies and immunotherapies that are saving thousands of lives;
• Blood cancer information, education and support for patients;
• Policies that ensure patients have access to blood cancer treatments.

Visit the Man & Woman of the Year website (www.mwoy.org/epa) and learn how you can become engaged with LLS.