My name is Sarah Banholzer and I am 17 years old and undergoing treatment for Lymphoma. I battled Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia when I was 4 1/2 years old with 2+ years of chemotherapy, several surgical procedures and lots of pokes and other yucky stuff. I had hoped that I would never take another chemo med again. But sadly, in November of 2017, I had what was thought to be a cyst removed from my forehead, but it turned out to be Lymphoma. This time, things leading up to the diagnosis were different. When I was 4, it made some sense because I had been feeling badly, but this time, I was feeling fantastic. I was having a great Sophomore year, had just finished my high school volleyball season, had just been selected to my 1st choice club volleyball team and had been starting to like running (actually I had just ran 5 miles with my Mom the week before)…. I guess that it doesn’t ever really make sense though. So, now I am on this road for a bit longer, but I will beat this and be back doing the ‘normal’ teenage things soon. My desire to give back for all of the incredible love and support that I have received from so many during my life has only grown deeper. This desire began about 7 years ago during the 2012 holiday season when I had the idea to sell crafts to buy Christmas gifts for the kids that have to be in Children's Hospital Oakland over Christmas. With the generous support of so many wonderful people, we have been able to sell crafts, baked goods and our signature Be Strong & Give Back Happiness apparel around the holidays and have taken over 1,000 gifts to Children's Hospital Oakland for the kids at Christmas! We have also started an annual Swimathon and have raised over $60,000 for USCF Benioff Children's Hospital Oakland in our first 5 years! The money that has been raised has gone to start several new, cool programs developed for the children through the Child Life Department at the hospital. We would love to continue to fund these wonderful programs for the children as well as maybe start some new programs. Please go to our website to learn more about these programs in our Newsletter -BeStrongAndGiveBackHappiness.com Thank you very much for supporting Be Strong & Give Back Happiness and UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital Oakland! Together, we can create smiles for these children! And we hope to see you on Sunday, May 5th at the 6th Annual Be Strong & Give Back Happiness Swimathon!!
xoxo,
Sarah
