JACK BEAHRS
LOCAL STUDENT RAISES NEARLY $90,000 FOR THE LEUKEMIA & LYMPHOMA SOCIETY
Writer / Stephanie Dolan Photography Provided
According to lls.org, the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society is the champion of the fight to cure blood cancers. The organization is the largest nonprofit dedicated to this research and since 1949 they have invested nearly $1.3 billion in cutting-edge research. Each year, the organization spearheads the Student of the Year event. This is a philanthropic competition in which participants are encouraged to foster professional skills such as entrepreneurship, marketing and project management in the name of raising funds for the society research and donation endeavors. Joey Beahrs is a sixth-grader at Noblesville West Middle School. He is 12 years old. Jack, 16, is his older brother. He is a sophomore at Noblesville High School. The brothers were born and raised in Noblesville. Jennifer is their mother.
Joey was diagnosed with Leukemia in the spring of 2019. He is now in remission and 100% cancer-free. “We were contacted by the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society for Joey to be one of their Honor Heroes,” Jennifer says. “Throughout talking to us, they found out that we had an older son. They asked if Jack would be interested in participating in the Student of the Year competition. It just progressed from there.” Jack signed on eagerly and dove into the seven-week program wholeheartedly.
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“It started in January and ended midMarch,” Jennifer says. “They have a pretty good structured program that they guide you through. It’s a lot of calling on businesses and sponsorships and things like that to raise money. It’s a lot of cold calling. He had a team of 10 supporting him. He probably had about eight to 10 businesses and a lot of individual donations he received.” Ultimately, Jack’s team raised almost $90,000. He came in third in the competition. The winner ended up bringing in more than $120,000. But, Jack didn’t come away empty-handed.
