Ridgefield Student Fundraising Effort: A High Bar, And Higher Hopes

RIDGEFIELD, CT — Naomi Vakil has been raising funds for cancer since she was five years old. Now a sophomore at Ridgefield High School, she has entered the fundraising big leagues.

Naomi has joined the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Student Visionaries of the Year Campaign, and has pledged to raise $50,000 in donations for the charity. The campaign only just launched on Jan. 20, and concludes March 10.

It's not just the goal levels that have changed since her days of making and selling bracelets for donations. Fate saw fit to give her skin in the game.

In 2015 her mom was diagnosed with cancer, and suddenly that childhood spent behind bake sale tables began to make more sense.

"When I was fundraising when I was little, I didn't really understand what cancer was or how it can affect patients," Naomi said. "So it was an eye-opening experience."

The good news: Naomi's mother was diagnosed early and doctors were able to corral her cancer before it became life-threatening. The bad news, of course, is that most cancer patients are not that lucky.

It's not the first time LLS has tapped a Ridgefield High student for its Visionaries initiative. Last year, senior Charlotte Kemp was also tasked with raising 50 grand. The fundraising throw-down pits students from all over the nation against each other in the competition for which there really is no loser (but there are scholarships for winners).

For Naomi, the awareness raised is just as important as the Benjamins.

"We're so engaged in our computers and phones and our different lives, with sports, and school and everything," she said. "But seeing how enthusiastic all of my classmates are to help me with this, it's been a really great experience."