Monday, May 19, 2025
An ambitious group of Wantagh High School students raised more than $118,000 to support blood cancer research, in only seven weeks — earning first place in the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s 2025 Student Visionaries of the Year campaign.
The student fundraising team, Warriors for a Cure, took home the top prize in the LLS’s annual philanthropic initiative.
The campaign, which ran from Feb. 6 to March 27, challenges high school students across Long Island to raise as much money as possible for LLS, a nonprofit which funds research and provides education and support services for blood cancer patients.
James DiCerbo, a senior and one of the team leads for Warriors for a Cure, said he was surprised when he heard his team had grabbed first place during the grand finale ceremony at the Heritage Club in Bethpage last month.
“Our goal was to try to reach what we did last year, which was $81,000,” he said. “So to have $118,000 was pretty remarkable.”
The Warriors have participated in LLS’s campaign for the past five years, raising a total of more than $424,000. This year’s team, made up of 26 students from Wantagh High School, competed against 26 high school groups from across Long Island.
To spread the word, DiCerbo and seniors Matt Riley, Gabe Avitable and Mike Avitable — also co-team leads — reached out to local organizations, businesses and residents. As a member of the Kiwanis Key Club, DiCerbo joined his teammates in presenting their fundraising mission to the Wantagh Chamber of Commerce and the Wantagh Kiwanis Club.
DiCerbo’s mother, Danielle, said presenting the mission of LLS helped local organizations get on board by contributing to the Warriors’ cause.
“It’s about raising money, but it's also about trying to find a cure and trying to get awareness out of what LLS does,” Danielle DiCerbo said.
According to the LLS website, the organization is one of the largest nonprofit funding agents of leading-edge research for blood cancers, including leukemia, lymphoma, myeloma, and other rare types of blood cancers. Since 2017, LLS has helped advance around 70 percent of blood cancer treatment options approved by the Food and Drug Administration, the website stated.
The Warriors organized a raffle fundraiser at Ridgewood Tavern in Wantagh on March 2, raising around $10,000. Raffle prizes included tickets to Mets, Jets and Islanders games, as well as concert tickets donated by John Theissen, founder of the John Theissen Children’s Foundation. Other donated items included grills, gym memberships, a television, restaurant gift cards and more.
In addition, the Warriors launched a letter-writing campaign, spread the word through social media, and set up fundraiser booths at the Wantagh St. Patrick’s Day parade and in front of Iavarone Brothers in Wantagh.
Wantagh junior Allie Reisert won Team Member of the Year for the second consecutive year for raising the highest amount among her group. Through donations and selling baked goods, Reisert took in around $28,000 for the Warriors’ campaign, making up over a quarter of the funds raised. Over the past two years, Reisert has collected a total of nearly $45,000.
In a news release from the Wantagh School District, Reisert said she was inspired to get involved by her sister, Ashley, who was a team leader for Warriors for a Cure in 2021.
“I admired how my sister showed so much dedication and I wanted to follow in her footsteps,” she said in the release. “I’m so grateful that I have the chance to make such an impact.”
Wantagh Key Club advisor Heidi Felix, who helped form the Warriors for a Cure team in 2021, said she was proud of the students’ accomplishment. Throughout the campaign, Felix coached team members on how to effectively present their mission to the community and promote their fundraising initiatives.
“I'm just proud of these kids,” she said, “because they show what it means to help others.”
Felix added that the initiative displayed pride in the Wantagh community, as students, parents, residents and business leaders all came together to support the cause. The mission is especially meaningful to her, she said, as she has a personal connection to blood cancer.
“I've lost six friends to cancer,” Felix noted. “It's horrific when you look at the children that have to live without their parents.”
For DiCerbo, joining the Warriors for a Cure team was a way to give back to his Wantagh community. But he said he hadn’t realized just how many people were affected by blood cancer until he became involved.
“Every other person that donated to us had some type of connection to blood cancer,” he said. “It was really eye-opening.”
