Bella, Carly, and Morgan at one of their planning meetings earlier in the year.

by Cassie Mattia

Loveland, Ohio – Could our Loveland Tigers be any more impressive?! Loveland High School students, Carly Wilhoite (Junior), Bella Dillhoff (Junior), and Morgan Wheeler (Senior) announced this month that they will be competing in the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (LLS) “Students Of The Year” campaign!

The “Students of the Year” campaign is a seven-week fundraising, leadership, and development program for high school students that focuses on developing young leaders in the community while they raise funds for LLS. This particular campaign began on February 17th and will end on April 9th.

During the seven-week program, Wilhoite, Dillhoff, and Wheeler will take on organizing events, as well as collecting items from restaurants and stores that will be auctioned off during “The Grand Finale” at the end of the campaign.

“We were not allowed to collect any money before the campaign starts, but we can get commitments,” Wilhoite said, “As of right now, we have been running around the whole city collecting commitments for donations, auction items, t-shirt sponsors, and Fund The Nights.”

The team of Tigers recently finalized their t-shirt design and they are now available for pre-order below.

The candidates and some of their team members help raffle off a Valentine’s Day basket to teachers – with help from Mrs. Johnson, their principal (Second from Right in photo).

The campaign has nearly twenty student team members and a group of adult helpers, which includes Katie Rose, Jen Ramage, and Molly Reboltz from The LLS.

Carly Wilhoite shared that she and her two campaign teammates in some way during their lives have had to deal with cancer, which is why this is so important to all of them.

“Morgan’s grandmother passed away due to lung cancer in the spring of 2016, and my grandfather passed away due to esophageal cancer when I was young,” Wilhoite said, “Bella and I have a friend and lacrosse teammate who was diagnosed with Leukemia a few years back and she thankfully won her fight. Supporting The LLS is my way of showing my support and love for those that have fought and are currently fighting the vicious battle against blood cancer, but the most important reason for our efforts in this campaign is Katie Rose and her family,” Wilhoite added, “Mrs. Rose is a teacher at the middle school and has been a mentor and friend to us throughout this whole thing. She lost her aunt to Leukemia in the summer of 2019. We love and appreciate Mrs. Rose for everything she has done for us, and there is simply nothing we wouldn’t be willing to do for her.”

Mrs. Rose, who has volunteered for The LLS for many years helping both the Pennies for Patients/Hero Squad and the Student of the Year campaigns, said she definitely has a personal stake in this type of work because she lost her 53-year-old aunt to AML a couple of years ago.

“I am always awed by how engaged my students become when asked to serve the greater good,” Rose said, “The Student of the Year campaign is the equivalent of a Master’s level class in philanthropy whereby students learn valuable skills that translate into their educational and career paths while doing such meaningful and important work. I am so proud of this team and the teams on whose shoulders they stand. We hope the Loveland community will support them in their journey!”

Morgan Wheeler shared what her experience was like her sophomore year participating in her first campaign.

“I had such a great opportunity first hand to see what an impact that the LLS has had not only on the patients it supports but the candidates it develops into amazing leaders in their community,” Wheeler said, “I hope that by accepting the nomination as a Student of the Year candidate that I can honor those who have lost their battle to cancer, like my grandmother, and help those who are currently fighting.”

Wheeler said that the biggest part of the campaign is “The Grand Finale,” which is set to be held on April 9th.

“It is truly an exciting and memorable moment that I remember very well from participating on the team last year,” Wheeler explained, “Candidates are recognized for all of their hard work and there is a commemoration for those who are fighting their battle or have lost their battle to cancer. At the Grand Finale, there is also a silent auction that offers teams one last way to raise funds that will go towards their teams total.”

“Our team is in the works of collecting auction items so that we can put baskets together to be sold at the auction,” Wheeler said, “At the end of the night, the winning team is announced and the title, ‘Students of the Year,’ is handed to the candidates of that team.”

To learn more about The LLS, Team CUREage 2.0, and how you can donate to the team today click the following link: https://events.lls.org/soh/TriStateSOY21/tcureage20.

If you or your business would like to contact Team CUREage 2.0 to help with their campaign email the team at [email protected].


We have all been touched by cancer in some way or another. May that be through friends, colleagues, classmates, or even your loved ones. All three of us have had the great fortune of not experiencing firsthand a cancer diagnosis, but it is because of our connection to the people around us that drove us to accept this nomination and fight for a cure.

We fight for Morgan’s grandmother who was diagnosed with lung cancer and unfortunately lost her battle in the spring of 2016. We fight for our close friend and mentor Mrs. Rose who lost her aunt to Leukemia in the summer of 2019. We fight for Grant Wolf, a little boy from Loveland who was battling brain cancer at just the age of seven and sadly passed away. We fight to help all of those who have fought or are still fighting the good fight against blood cancer.

With your support, and continued collaboration among researchers, doctors, advocacy organizations, pharmaceutical companies, regulators, and patients, we are on our way to conquering cancer once and for all. Please join the team and help us all fight cancer.


Hand your check/donation directly to or mail to Carly Wilhoite
6332 Gallaher ct. Loveland, OH 45140

Please make your check payable to The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society or LLS, and include Team CUREage 2.0 in the memo line.

You can donate directly to our team cite at
https://events.lls.org/soh/TriStateSOY21/tcureage20

The LLS is uniquely able to report on the many advances and accomplishments that have occurred since their founding in 1949. From cutting-edge research and precision medicine innovations to legislative victories that improve access to therapies for cancer patients, LLS plays a leading- and often pioneering- role in the fight against blood cancers. Since 2000, approximately 40 percent of all U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) approved cancer drugs were for blood cancer, and some are now used to treat other forms of cancer and non-malignant diseases. A “win” for blood cancers, therefore, is a win for the cancer community overall.

Cassie Mattia is the Associate Editor of Loveland Magazine and our Account Executive. She can be contacted about advertising opportunities.


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