Jenna Morasca Making Her Mark

Many of you know how supportive Ethan Zohn was of my Man of the Year campaign last year. I’ve told the story many times before that a mutual friend connected Ethan and I shortly after his diagnosis and it turned into a powerful and meaningful friendship and connection.

You are also probably aware of how publicly supportive Ethan’s better half, Jenna Morasca, was during his treatment battle. She didn’t just stand by his side; she led the charge and wore many hats during Ethan’s treatment period.

In true Jenna fashion, she has taken on another fight. She has thrown her name into the ring for the title of Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Woman of the Year for the NY area. Kudos to Jenna for her warrior attitude in the fight against all cancers. And I want to personally thank both Ethan and Jenna for their continued and unwavering support.

Below is her open campaign letter.

Dear Friends and Family,

I have been honored this year by being nominated for Woman of the Year by the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. The Man & Woman of the Year campaign is a national campaign to raise money for the fight against blood cancers such as leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma.

Cancer has tried to crush my spirit twice, but I will not surrender. When I was 23 years old, cancer came into my home and took away my mother. And just last year, my partner in crime and the love of my life Ethan Zohn, was diagnosed with a rare form of blood cancer – CD 20+ Hodgkins Lymphoma. It seemed that we were both on top of the world at the time – enjoying our life together in New York City. Very quickly our lives changed with a single phone call and again I was thrust into caretaker mode. I found myself gasping for air.

I thought I had paid my dues to cancer and given all that I could. But cancer doesn’t care if you have suffered before – every four minutes someone dies from a blood cancer, and to me this is not ok. With the help of his doctors, our friends, family, love and the competitive spirit we share, we made cancer more scared of us, than we were of it. Together our battle became one of hope, laughter, tears, set backs, but ultimately triumph! We were victorious over his cancer together, and I am happy to say that we not only celebrate our birthdays, our anniversary, but also a rebirth of Ethan’s health!

•    Leukemia causes more deaths than any other cancer among children & young adults under age 20.
•    Thanks to research funded by LLS, the leukemia survival rate for children 0 to 14 years of age in the United States has increased 76% from 1969 to 2007.
•    One in Two Men will be diagnosed with cancer and One in Three Women will be diagnosed with cancer in our life-time.

As part of my campaign to be the Woman of the Year, it is my goal to raise more than $40,000 to benefit LLS between now and May 19th (which also happens to be my mom’s birthday).  This campaign is the perfect symbol of our journey with cancer and it’s an honor to be involved with something much bigger than ourselves. I have been given the amazing opportunity to help make sure others don’t have to go though the same crap we went through!

Attached please find a donation form to make it easy for you to send your tax-deductible contribution directly to me (payable to: The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society). Or, if you prefer, you can go to the campaign web site HERE and  contribution there.

Your donation can have even more of an impact if your company matches donations so please make sure to check with them and submit the appropriate forms!  Finally, I’d love if you could reach out to others and ask them to donate to LLS and support my campaign. Together we can make a huge difference in the lives of those affected.

Send checks made payable to The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society to:

Jenna Morasca
c/o Gold Standard Sports
115 Lomita St
El Segundo, CA 90254

I’ll keep you posted on the campaign. For now, I am grateful for your friendship and support.

With love,
Jenna Morasca