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Photos courtesy of JR King and Sarah McElvy.
JR King, pictured, and Sarah McElvy are competing for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society Man of the Year and Woman of the Year by raising money for the society.
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Photos courtesy of JR King and Sarah McElvy.
JR King and Sarah McElvy, pictured, are competing for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society Man of the Year and Woman of the Year by raising money for the society.
A few months ago, 15 candidates from the Alabama/Gulf Coast chapter of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society signed up to compete for the LLS Man & Woman of the Year.
Then the COVID-19 pandemic hit the area, meaning that the candidates would have to rethink the way they raised money for the cause. Still, none of the 15 local candidates backed down from the challenge, including two Homewood residents: JR King and Sarah McElvy.
In the Man & Woman of the Year campaign, which is one of LLS’ four annual fundraising events, the men compete against the men and the women compete against the women to see who can raise the most money for LLS. Last year’s campaign raised $262,000 among 13 candidates.
“The three main things we do are funding incredible, groundbreaking research, help with the financial costs for patients, and then advocacy. We fight on Capitol Hill for patients’ rights, affordable treatments, access to care and things like that,” said Julie Moon, the local campaign manager for Man & Woman of the Year.
McElvy, who lives in Homewood and works as an assistant to the CEO for Milo’s Tea Company, was approached last year by her friend, Lindsey Noto, who won last year’s Woman of the Year campaign. Noto asked McElvy if she would want to run for this year’s campaign.
“I have some friends who’ve had children who’ve been diagnosed and have survived,” McElvy said. “My ‘why’ is for the people who haven’t been diagnosed yet. I want to raise money for the patients right now but also for the future patients. It could happen to any of us — any of our kids.”
King also joined the campaign because of his relationship with last year’s Woman of the Year. He was on Noto’s campaign team and helped raise more than $5,000.
King already helps out with various other charitable organizations, and Noto told King he would be good for the role.
When King started talking to Moon about LLS, he grew an even bigger passion for the cause. He learned that by researching cures for blood cancers, scientists are learning more about arthritis, migraines and more because many things are transferred through the blood.
“Once I saw the impact of the scope of where the research is going, it seemed more broad tome,” he said. “The research that LLS is doing is huge and encompasses so many different illnesses. If we keep pushing in that direction, we can hopefully cure leukemia and lymphoma but a lot of other things as well.”
Not being able to host events because of public health concerns has made the campaign more difficult, he said.
“Last year, I was able to help Lindsey come up with several creative events, and we had a blast,” he said. “Fun is contagious. When other people see us having fun raising money doing this, they want to join in and show up to the events.”
This year, they’re having to think outside of the box, McElvy said. Because McElvy works with Milo’s, she was able to secure a corporate sponsorship from the company and one more from Altec Inc. Additionally, she said, she has called her friends and sent emails to neighbors.
Another effect of the coronavirus has been the economic shutdown — King said this has made corporate sponsorships more difficult. However, as a State Farm insurance agent, King said he has a little bit of the “gift of gab” and is good at rallying and encouraging people.
“It’s going to be a difficult campaign ... but we’re not out of this yet,” King said. “I know that Sarah wants to win, and I want to win as well.”
The 10-week campaign ends June 26. For more information about the local candidates and to donate, visit mwoy.org/mwoy-candidates/1631.
