One Team. One Fight. Our Fight for LLS.

Here at Cisco, records aren’t meant to be broken…   They are meant to be shattered!    Especially when those records are for a great cause. And this past Father’s Day, everyone smiled just a bit wider knowing that the entire organization came together to make a difference.

I am so proud of our Cisco team for raising money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS). The LLS’s successful Man and Woman of the Year campaign concluded on June 14 in Washington, D.C. This 10-week campaign raised a total of $1.62 million for LLS, which is $200,000 more than any previous campaign.

Since 1949, LLS has been raising money and fighting to cure leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma. Today, it is the world’s largest non-profit health organization dedicated to supporting the fight against blood cancer by funding research, education and patient services.

The Cisco U.S. Public Sector team is passionate about this cause and we are proud to have participated again this year in LLS’s campaign, with our own campaign, which we called “One Team. One Fight. We Fight for LLS.” Cisco employees from around the country as well as, partners, industry colleagues, friends and family all teamed up to raise $317,616 for LLS, beating the previous record for the largest fundraising effort by any individual team by $40,000!

Thank you to everyone who participated in any way, big or small, over the course of this campaign. We had an incredible time building team camaraderie, strengthening friendships and working toward the collective goal of helping LLS reach their goal to cure leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma. I would especially like to thank Gary DePreta, the LLS Man of the Year, for taking great initiative in furthering this cause by organizing our efforts and raising funds in honor of the local children who are blood cancer survivors.

At the end of the day, we remain humbled by the courage and optimism shown by survivors, their families and those who continue to fight on in memory of those who lost their lives to blood cancer. Their struggles and stories inspire us each day. Our LLS boy and girl of the year, Vishav Chopra (age 9) and Rylie Richards (age 6), are testament to the bravery of human spirit and the miracle of medical innovation. After battling cancer at such a tender age, they are now living healthy, happy lives. We are honored to a part of their fight and we will strive each year to come closer to a cure.

This is not just their fight.

We are one team, and this is one fight.

We fight for LLS.