Gilbertsville teen wins LLS Mission Award
Alyssa Iacobacci surpassed her goal, raising $35,000 to help find a cure for blood cancers
Gilbertsville teen Alyssa Iacobacci not only surpassed her fundraising goal for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, but she also won the society’s Mission Award.
Iacobacci, along with other high school students, fundraised as a candidate for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Students of the Year campaign in order to support their mission to cure blood cancers. Her campaign to raise awareness and money for seven weeks concluded on Feb. 26.
“Overall, my campaign was very successful, and I received a lot of support from the community,” said Iacobacci, a junior at The Perkiomen School in Pennsburg, who previously attended
Boyertown Elementary and Boyertown Middle School West. “I am so proud of the efforts made by my team members; we were able to accomplish so much! I am also eternally grateful for all of the support that I received.”
Last year, Iacobacci was a team member on the Students of the Year campaign team, called Team Bears.
“The Boyertown area has a three-year (so far) “legacy team”
for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s Students of the Year campaign,” said Iacobacci.
The first candidates from the Boyertown area were Abby Detweiler, Audrey Swartley and Sarah Drakas who then nominated Angelina DiSantis, Laura O’Connor and Ali Pioli in 2020.
“Finally, I was a solo candidate for the 2021 campaign, continuing our legacy,” said Iacobacci.
Iacobacci gathered a team of family and friends to support her in my efforts. They are called Team Panthers.
“The drive and determination behind the campaign last year inspired me, and allowed me to realize the importance of this fundraiser, and how many lives it truly affects,” she said.
Both prior teams won the LLS Mission Award and now Iacobacci joins them as an award recipient.
“This award is something that is extremely important to our legacy, so when I won I was extremely honored and excited to carry on the tradition,” said Iacobacci. “The Mission Award seeks to reward the candidate who has advanced the efforts to cure blood cancers by making significant contributions through their campaign in support of LLS’ mission, through exceptional outreach and advocacy.”
There were not many opportunities to host events, especially within restaurants,
like in previous years, so she set her fundraising goal for $15,000.
“When I began planning for my campaign, I was very nervous and unsure of how fundraising was going to go, considering that there were many limitations due to COVID,” she said. “Once the campaign officially started, I was amazed with how much and how fast my team was able to raise money.”
Her team quickly reached her original goal, and throughout the campaign, she had to continuously raise the overall goal.
“This was extremely exciting for me to witness, and I am so grateful for all of the generous individuals who contributed,” said Iacobacci. “In the end, with the help of my amazing team members, we were able to raise over $35,000! This is a new record for our Boyertown legacy!”
In addition, Iacobacci had one of the highest fundraising individual campaigns in the Lehigh Valley market’s history.
“From the beginning, the Boyertown community was so extremely supportive of my campaign,” she said.
Charles Gulati and the Sunnybrook Ballroom helped her organize a drivein movie, showing Disney’s “The Incredibles.”
“This event ran so smoothly and was such a great idea, all thanks to Mr. Gulati and his staff.”
Also, she organized a week-long Dairy Queen fundraiser.
“A flyer was created, and my campaign received 20% of proceeds of guests who showed our flyer at the drive-thru.”
She also promoted a Pampered Chef fundraiser, with her campaign receiving a percentage of the overall proceeds for an extended period of time.
A few other activities that helped her raise funds were the sales of homemade dog treats and hot cocoa bombs.
“My sister, Paige, was a team member of mine, and she utilized her creativity to make these amazing treats,” said Iacobacci. “The dog treats were especially popular amongst my teachers at the Perkiomen School, and many faculty dogs enjoyed them!”
“My school community was also extremely supportive,” she added.
Iacobacci was featured in a few social media posts, her school newspaper, the parent update letter, and on a blog post that can be found on her school’s website.”
In order to further promote her campaign, Iacobacci
was a guest on one of Glocker Realty’s weekly podcasts.
“I was able to discuss my campaign efforts and the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society as an overall organization. Glocker Realty, especially Jen, Jeff, and Matt, were so supportive,” she said.
They continued to promote and post about her campaign on their social media platforms.
“This promotion paid off when another one of their podcast guests, Fred Schutte, had heard about my campaign and was able to fundraise throughout his company. The LLS cause, he mentioned, was very close to his heart, as cancer had affected one of his employees.”
“Building a Better Boyertown’s Main Street manager, Jillian Magee, was also so kind to continue to promote my campaign and events throughout the course of the seven weeks as well,” continued Iacobacci. “I was very appreciative of this because through their social media platforms I was able to reach a broader community audience.”
Many Boyertown businesses supported her campaign by donating silent auction items for her raffle, which was held online
during the last few days of the campaign.
Expressing her appreciation, she thanks Becker Home, Studio B Art Gallery, Frecon Farms, the Boyertown State Theatre, Firefly Cafe, Colebrookdale Railroad, and AR Workshop for their silent auction raffle donations. Outside of the Boyertown community, she received auction donations from family members and friends, including Daria Dzwil, Peter Dougherty, Diana Gleeson, Brynn Cicipio, and Amanda Surdel.
All proceeds from her campaign will go toward the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society in regards to their mission to cure blood cancers.
“Throughout this campaign, I have heard many touching stories regarding how cancer has affected several individuals. I am familiar with this, as many of my family members and friends have been affected by cancer, however, this campaign brought a new perspective on how fast life can change,” said Iacobacci. “I am so grateful for the lessons that this experience has taught me, and I hope that my campaign can inspire others to take part in something that is bigger than themselves, in which they are also very passionate about.”