The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s SVOY Event
We were honored to have hosted the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s annual Student Visionaries of the Year event here, at SKYBOX on 6th on February 24, 2024. The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, the largest non profit organization dedicated to creating a world without blood cancers, is on a mission to cure leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin’s disease and myeloma, and improve the quality of life of patients and their families. We here at Skybox are passionate about supporting causes that are in line with our values, and were honored to have this partnership with LLS.
The Student Visionaries of the Year is a philanthropic leadership development program for high school students. Every year, the young leaders embark on a 7-week journey with a goal to raise as much as they can for LLS, striving to earn the Student Visionary of the Year title. At the end of the 7 weeks, a Grand Finale Celebration is held to honor the students who have went above and beyond to contribute to the LLS mission. Additionally, the total funds raised by candidate teams within a community, as well as the top fundraising teams, are revealed.
Kicking Off the Night
This year, we were honored to have hosted the local Austin community’s student visionaries. Kicking off the night, students, families, and guests were greeted with dinner from Austin Catering. While enjoying the food, guests got to explore the space, take pictures in two different photo booths provided by Party Arties, and socialize with family and friends.
Kicking off the night, Emcee Alex Okafor, a former UT Longhorn and super bowl winner for the Kansas City Chiefs, greeted guests and got everyone excited for the night to come. Having lost his mother to blood cancer, Okafor strives to support the LLS mission in any way he can and is committed to helping blood cancer patients. Okafor particularly likes to support the work of students, which is why he likes working with this campaign so much. He is truly a positive light to all of the students and made the perfect emcee during the night.
Okafor started off the night by honoring LLS’s Honored Hero: a survivor and face of the campaign who is representative of the patients LLS serves. The Honored Hero is a local survivor who serves as a symbol of strength, motivation, support, and determination. They encourage people participating in LLS events and provide inspiration to staff members, event participants, and volunteers who support the mission of LLS.
The Grand Finale
Once the time came to honor the students, each team received praise and congratulations from all guests for their outstanding work and commitment to the LLS mission. The students worked extremely hard on their campaigns for the prior 7 weeks which is evident in their fundraising achievements. Once each team and individual were recognized for their work, Emcee Okafor moved on to honor the teams who raised the highest funds which included naming who received the highly sought after Student Visionary of the Year title. This year, the Austin Student Visionary of the Year title was awarded to a student who raised over $92,000!
At the end of the night, the grand total of funds raised by all of the candidates is revealed. This year, Austin Student Visionaries raised a total of $724,775 for the LLS mission! Their hard work and dedication to this campaign is an inspiration to us all. We were blown away by the efforts of each individual and were honored to have been able to host and witness this momentous occasion here at Skybox.
Post-ceremony, guests enjoyed their night celebrating LLS, the Student Visionaries, and everyone involved in making the night a huge success. For more information about their mission or the SVOY campaign, visit the LLS website.