The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (LLS) has released its fundraising statistics for Pennies for Patients, and WJ has broken multiple records with its confirmed total of $58,263.86 raised for cancer research. This is the tenth year WJ has been the top donor among its competitors, most notably Walt Whitman HS. This year’s fundraising drive, however, raised more than has ever been raised for LLS, and could be the most raised by a single school for any comparable fundraiser.

“It could potentially be the most that any school…in the nation, [and] by that same token in the world, has ever raised in one month for any cause,” said SGA Vice President Josh Brenits.

“Hoping to get $40,000”

Despite raising nearly $60,000 in a month of fundraising, the first weeks of Pennies for Patients seemed to have the odds stacked against the leadership class. The SGA had set this year’s donation goal at $40,000, but quickly doubted whether they would reach it.

“We weren’t sure, even going into the last week, if we were going to get [to our goal],” Brenits said.

“From every single event, we really stayed focused,” said SGA President Jake Karlin. “Once we got it together, we just kept watching [the money] grow and then, towards the end, we’re like, ‘We’re getting really close to our goal.’”

Despite a slow start, the SGA noted the generosity and eagerness of WJ students in Pennies for Patients.

“At WJ Glow, kids would come in with twenties, with lines all the way behind the kiosk,” Karlin said. “It was crazy. With the social studies competition, we expected maybe to get a couple hundred dollars total. We saw three classes raise over $1,000 just for that. An underclassman class actually won.”

“A steady competitor in Whitman”

In addition to the SGA’s efforts to reach their donation goal, the Pennies for Patients fundraising drive was aimed at keeping Whitman from beating WJ for the first time in a decade. Near the end of the competition, Whitman had surpassed WJ in total donation amounts — something that hadn’t happened in previous competitions.

“We had a steady competitor in Whitman,” Brenits said. “They had events that were covered in news outlets like Bethesda Magazine and The Gazette, and we legitimately thought they could beat us.”

“[Whitman] was only $7,000 away from us,” said SGA Treasurer Santiago De Paco Priess said. “The fact that they made ‘Beat WJ’ their slogan just made it so much more personal.”

The SGA received weekly reports on the progress of other schools in the area, and anxiously watched Whitman’s fundraising efforts.

“During the fourth week, all we heard was, ‘Whitman’s passing us. Whitman’s beating us,’” Karlin said. “Every single thing we told the students was completely true. Whitman actually was beating us. We literally just had a surge on the last day or two that completely catapulted us.”

“Eager to get involved”

Underclassman involvement in Pennies for Patients was also far higher this year than in previous years. There was no more visible example of this than in the pawprint competition, with each pawprint representing a dollar donated by a person from each grade. For several days, the juniors had a higher total pawprint count than seniors did.

“We’re glad that the underclassmen were as involved as they were this year,” De Paco Priess said. “In previous years, they don’t really know [about Pennies for Patients] as they’re coming into high school, but it was clear this year that they were so eager to get involved.”

“The way that we have success in pawprints is that it’s a competition,” Karlin said. “If seniors are just all the way out ahead, then everyone else won’t be motivated to donate, and that’s an issue. So once all the underclassmen started to get closer and closer to the seniors, we said, ‘This is a good thing.’ So seniors would step it up and donate more.”

“We really like helping people”

Pennies for Patients has gained a reputation for its competitive nature, both between grades at WJ and between schools in the county. The SGA, however, emphasized the need to focus on the fact that Pennies for Patients is, at its core, a fundraiser for research into blood cancers.

“You always want to be the best,” Brenits said. “Yeah, we really want[ed] to beat Whitman. We really want[ed] to get to $40,000. At the same time, at the end, you just want to be able to step back and say ‘We did a really good thing.’”

“We’re incredibly charitable,” De Paco Priess said. “We really like helping people. That’s what makes us WJ.”

Last year, LLS invested more than $76 million in blood cancer research, according to statistics from the organization. This research has led to the development of drugs that have vastly extended the average survival length of a person with leukemia or lymphoma. They have also funded research designed to improve current cancer treatment options to make them faster and safer for patients.

“They’re really doing great things”

Having raised an enormous sum of money in this year’s Pennies for Patients fundraiser, there will be a great deal of pressure on next year’s SGA to outperform their predecessors. Karlin urged them to try their hardest, but also not to lose focus of the importance of the fundraiser.

“At the end of the day, you know, what next year’s SGA has to always keep in mind is that they’re still doing an incredible thing, raising money to try to cure cancer,” he said. “Even if they don’t reach their goal, or if they don’t beat us…or even if they don’t beat Whitman, they just need to step back and think that they’re really doing great things.”

As far as a specific message for the 2013 SGA, Karlin summed up the enormity of the task ahead of them in two words: “Good luck.”