Justice student goes to extremes to raise money for leukemia research

Henry Smith

Henry Smith, a junior at Justice High School, is going all out to raise money in the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Students of the Year campaign – and he’s inviting the public to contribute, as well.

Donations can be made here. Henry appreciates whatever you can do, no matter how much.

The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society supports research on blood cancer, and its efforts have already led to the development of some promising treatments.

Smith has a personal connection with leukemia. His grandmother was diagnosed with the disease in 2013, and after a long struggle is now in remission. “Many families are not as lucky as ours,” he says.

The school’s fundraising club, Team Justice, has set a goal of $50,000 by March 18. Henry’s personal fundraising goal is $7,500.

Henry come up with novel ways of raising funds. “Most teenagers don’t have much of their own money or much experience with this,” he says, so he offered his friends a challenge on Instagram: If they donated $1,000 in one week, he promised to dye his hair red.

“I was blown away by the response,” he says. “More than 700 kids liked my post and I raised $1,000 plus in 26 hours.” He followed through by living with bright-red hair for a whole week.

In his next challenge, Henry agreed to wear a suit to school everyday for a week if he raised $500. It took only 12 hours to meet that goal. He also met his next goal – bringing luggage to school every day for week instead of a backpack – which netted another $500.

The fundraising campaign is just one of several activities Henry is involved in. He is one of the editors of the Justice High School newspaper, vice president of his class, founder of a Students Demand Action club on gun violence prevention, and plays on the school’s golf and baseball teams.

The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Students of the Year program is s a philanthropic leadership development program for exemplary high school students. During the campaign, participants use professional skills, such as entrepreneurship, marketing, and project management to raise funds for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society

The Students of the Year title is awarded to the candidate or co-candidates in each community that raise the most funds during the two-month-long competition.