Six bright high school students, all with ties to someone who has faced leukemia, lymphoma or another type of cancer, have joined together to form Team Victory Royale.
Jack Ferruzzo is a junior at Memorial High School. His grandfather, Ken DeLorenzo, battles Waldenstrom Lymphoma. His great-aunt, Ginger Upton, died four years ago from Large B cell Lymphoma. When Jack was nominated by Katie Upton Daily to compete for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (LLS) Student of the Year competition he gladly accepted and set out to form a team of friends all with his same competitive drive to help raise money for the Gulf Coast chapter of LLS.
The team consists of high school juniors John Austin Anderson of Memorial High School, Michael Duncan of The Kinkaid School, Caroline Henderson of St. Agnes Academy, Caroline Melody of Episcopal High School, Laura Shepherd of Memorial High School along with Jack as the captain of Team Victory Royale. John Austin Anderson’s father Eric fought Large B cell Lymphoma and is 5 years in remission. Caroline Melody’s Episcopal High School cheer coach is mother to a 5 year old boy battling leukemia. Sadly these are just a few examples of what motivates these teens to raise money to fight these and other deadly forms of cancer. LLS funds research to advance lifesaving treatments that help the broader cancer community. Many of the innovative approaches to cancer treatment, including advances in immunotherapy, genomics and precision medicine, were first discovered in blood cancers. Through programs like Student of the Year, LLS has invested $1.2 billion in research in advance breakthrough therapies.
Team Victory Royale is hosting “spirit nights” at area restaurants who are supporting their cause by donating 20% of proceeds to their campaign. Join them at Texadelphia at 8383 Westheimer on January 15 from 11:00am-9:00pm. You can also donate directly to their campaign by visiting https://events.lls.org/txg/HoustonSOY19/jferruzzo.
Pictured: Caroline Henderson of St. Agnes Academy, Caroline Melody of Episcopal High School, Laura Shepherd of MHS, Jack Ferruzzo of MHS, Michael Duncan (Memorial resident) of The Kinkaid School, and John Austin Anderson of MHS.
