Vicky Andritsch with three of her five children (left to right) Audrey, Ava, and Luke. Jack and Grace are at college.
According to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, every three minutes someone in the U.S. is diagnosed with a blood cancer. Put another way, 1.1 million people in the U.S. are living with blood cancer, which is enough people to fill Lucas Oil Stadium 16 times. “My son, Luke, is one of those numbers,” says Vicky Andritsch, who is running for 2017 Woman of the Year for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (LLS). Ten candidates within the Indianapolis chapter will compete to see who can raise the most money in 10 weeks. The campaign kicks off March 2 and ends on May 13.
Supporting LLS is nothing new to Vicky. She has volunteered with countless “Pennies for Patients” campaigns that are now active throughout all the HSE school districts, as well as participating in many “Light the Night” campaigns. Luke was diagnosed with Acute She pours herself into Team in Training Lymphoblastic Leukemia at age three on Mother’s Day. He underwent chemotherapy events and has participated in 22 triathlons and marathons over the course of the every day for more than three years. Vicky admits that she’s put all these memories into last 10 years to help raise money for LLS. When many think of LLS, they think of a box of how he suffered with treatment, Vicky. Now, she is tackling the “King of undergoing numerous, rare complications that left him extremely weak and exhausted. Campaigns” — LLS Woman of the Year. journey with Luke and how this campaign wraps up the same weekend as the anniversary of his diagnosis 10 years ago, I feel it’s a sign from God that I should do it.”
“I want to make an impact to improve treatment options so that some other little boy or girl won’t have to go through what Luke did,” Vicky says. “I want to be able to “At first, the idea of running for LLS Woman look back after 10 weeks of this campaign and know that I have given everything I can. of the Year was out of my comfort zone,” says Vicky, who admits she’d rather continue This is an opportunity for me to recognize the underlying support of LLS, which was a to help behind the scenes than be in any spotlight. “When I think about our past lifeline for myself and my family.” 26 / GEIST MAGAZINE / MARCH 2017 / atGeist.com
Anyone who knows Vicky realizes that she’s always giving everything she can. She’s the founder and director of Team Luke (www.goteamluke.org). This nonprofit organization, established in 2008, was formed to give back to a community who gave so much to her family members as they faced a very challenging time in their lives.