Jenna Beasley of Eureka was one of 10 candidates from the St. Louis area selected for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Visionaries of the Year fundraising program.
The candidates collectively raised more than $535,000 to help people undergoing cancer treatment and to fund local research projects.
Beasley, 18, was recognized for her fundraising efforts at a gala held June 6 at the 21c Museum Hotel in St. Louis. She said participants were not allowed to disclose how much they raised individually, with only the top fundraiser in each region eligible to share how much they raised.
Beasley said the gala was a special way to close a difficult chapter in her life. She was diagnosed with stage two Hodgkin’s lymphoma in February 2023, undergoing months of chemotherapy treatment while in her sophomore year at Eureka High School.
She has been in remission since June 2023.
According to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society website, Visionaries of the Year candidates collect money for 10 weeks from February to June across the U.S. Donations are used to support blood cancer research, education and patient support.
Once all fundraising campaigns finish, regional Visionaries of the Year candidates who raised the most money are announced. This year, Jack Godbold was named the Midwest’s top fundraiser, raising more than $125,000.
Each Visionary candidate was introduced and asked to walk across the stage at the gala. Beasley chose “If You’re Going Through Hell” by Rodney Atkins as her walk-up song.
She said the song was apt for her situation.
“(Cancer treatment) was really difficult, and I struggled a lot with school,” Beasley said. “Once you get cancer, it takes over your life. I lost a lot of friends because I was no longer in that group. I pretty much had to skip my junior year. I think my attendance record was 20 percent because every week I had to go for chemo treatments or labs.
“The gala felt like a really big turning point in my life because I finally got to wrap it up and stop letting cancer take over my life.”
Fundraising
Laura Hanks, an education specialist at the Mercy Cardinals Kids and Young Adult Cancer Center, nominated Beasley for the Visionaries of the Year program. The pair began working together when Beasley was diagnosed with cancer at 16.
Hanks said that as an education specialist, she communicates with schools to ensure students undergoing cancer treatment can finish or graduate in a certain amount of time.
Hanks said Beasley is a mature, thoughtful and brave person, who she knew would be a good candidate for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s annual program.
To raise money, Beasley posted often on Facebook and Instagram, asking family and friends to donate on her official web page. She also designed T-shirts, which “sold like crazy,” she said.
Beasley went to the gala with her grandmother, Sheree Farrier, and friend Delaney Digman.
Digman, 19 of Wildwood also is a pediatric cancer survivor. The two met on a choir trip during their sophomore year and became fast friends.
Digman was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia in June 2019 when she was 13. She finished her treatments in October 2021.
After attending the gala with Beasley, Digman said she was inspired to apply for the Visionaries program herself next year.
“I’m so proud of (Jenna) and all she’s done,” Digman said. “She took the crappiest situation she could have been handed and used it to her advantage to not only raise awareness for herself and her fight but also to help others. I am so incredibly proud of her for getting involved with them and then sharing that experience with me (at the gala) as well.”
Diagnosis
Beasley said finding out she had cancer was “a hot mess.” She had a persistent, dry cough that wouldn’t let up, and one morning, she woke up with a baseball-sized mass near her collarbone and a terrible pain in her left shoulder.
She was admitted to the hospital, and, within six days, started chemotherapy treatment.
Hanks said pediatric cancer treatment can be grueling for children and young adults, involving lab work, rounds of chemo and PET scans. Hodgkin’s lymphoma is a type of cancer that attacks a part of the immune system called the lymphatic system. For Beasley, the cancer was centralized in her neck and chest.
Digman said she was able to share with Beasley tips on how to cope with her diagnosis and stay strong through the treatment process, having gone through a similar treatment herself.
“The first thing I did when I found out she had cancer was go into my closet and grab the beanie I wore during treatment almost every day,” Digman said. “I gave it to her the next time I saw her, because it was my comfort, and I know eventually that this is going to have to become her comfort, too.”
While she’s in remission, Beasley said she still sees Hanks every three months for follow-up appointments. They also text one another regularly, Beasley said.
Both Beasley and Digman said they want to bring more awareness to pediatric cancer research in Missouri. Beasley said research is severely underfunded, with only 4 percent of the federal cancer research budget going toward pediatric cancer research, according to the National Cancer Institute.
Digman will be sophomore at the University of Missouri in Columbia this year, and she is studying to become a nurse. She is a member of Mizzou MoreThan4, which advocates more funding for pediatric cancer research.
“With federal cuts that may be coming and lessened access due to cutting Medicaid and things like that, it’s going to be even harder for children to receive cancer treatment, and that’s why it is so important for this research to be funded, clinical trials to be funded,” Digman said. “Without services like Medicaid and these clinical trials, children aren’t going to get the cures that they need.”
Next chapter
After graduating a year early from Eureka High in 2024, Beasley began attending St. Louis Community College to earn her associate’s degree in child and family development. She wants to become a child life specialist, similar to the work Hanks does, and to advocate for children undergoing medical treatment.
Beasley lives with her mother, Arica, and stepfather, David. She has five living siblings: Zack, Emily, Abby, Jacob and Connor. Two of her siblings, Jamie and Justin, died.
Beasley said she’s currently applying to universities to continue her education once she earns her associate degree in the spring.
“I am currently focusing on being a student, because I never really got to when I was in high school,” Beasley said. “It was just cancer, and I had nothing else. I want to get my degree. I’m ready to move out. I’m ready to have my dream job.”