Westborough – John Ragan of Westborough and Cynthia Paleologos of West Boylston have been named this year's Man & Woman of the Year by The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's (LLS) Massachusetts Chapter.
During a 10-week fundraising period, nine candidates were tasked with generating as many funds as possible to advance the mission of LLS. The candidates competed in honor of the LLS Boy & Girl of the Year, Talan and Darla, blood cancer survivors and sources of inspiration.
All nine candidates collectively raised more than $588,000 with the incredible support of their campaign teams and community. The two winners, Ragan and Paleologos, were the top local fundraisers and will now be entered into national competition for Man and Woman of the Year.
Ragan and Paleologos were honored at the Champions of Hope Gala May 22 at the Seaport Hotel and World Trade Center in Boston.
The evening was made possible with contributions from Premier Sponsor Dana-Farber Cancer Institute; Presenting Sponsor Millennium – The Takeda Oncology Company; Media Sponsor Boston magazine; and Gold Sponsors KBW – A Stifel Company, S&S Ventures, Inc., and Stifel.
“Congratulations to our winners, and to all of our candidates who participated in this year's record breaking campaign,” said Sharon Klein, the Massachusetts Chapter's Executive Director.? “Each of them used their passion and determination to raise funds that give thousands of people battling blood cancers the chance to live better, longer lives. They are all champions!”
An estimated 1,129,812 people in the United States are living with, or are in remission from, leukemia, Hodgkin lymphoma, non-Hodgkin lymphoma or myeloma. Every four minutes, someone new is diagnosed with blood cancer. Every 10 minutes, someone dies. Funding is needed to advance research and ensure access to treatments to help save more lives.
