The Michelle Marie Lunn Hope Foundation (MLHOPE) was formed to foster awareness, educate, fund research and provide financial assistance to people affected with a blood cancer.
Congratulations to this years winners of the Michelle Lunn HOPE Memorial Scholarships.
Austin Plave-
Austin is a 2015 graduate of South Lyon East High School and is currently a junior at Kettering University pursuing a bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering. When Austin was 5 he was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and due to him being a slow responder with his treatment had to endure 3.5 years of aggressive chemo and radiation treatment which caused him to have some academic struggles which he has overcome after many years of hard work. While in High School Austin was a student mentor, a member in the National Honors Society, volunteer for “Active Faith” community service program and on the Robotics team. During college he has been an active volunteer for “Ketterings Service Saturdays”. Austin also works as an intern in the engineering design department of Bosch. Through all this Austin came out from his struggles with more confidence and seizes every moment not letting any opportunity pass him by.
John Worm-
John is a 2016 Graduate of West Catholic High School in Grand Rapids, MI and will be a sophomore at Grand Valley State University in the fall pursuing an engineering degree. He is the middle child out of seven brothers and sisters. While in seventh grade John developed Acute Myelogenic leukemia (AML) and was admitted to the hospital in isolation for nearly 3 months receiving chemo treatments until he reached remission. In June of 2010 John started his bone marrow transplant (BMT) in which his oldest sister was the donor. His transplant was successful but no without several complications, some that require additional time inpatient. John was finally allowed back to school 1 year after his leukemia diagnosis. Since that time, John has remained relatively healthy. He has been able to maintain an ordinary life. He participated in sports throughout his high school career, doing baseball, bowling, and rugby. Through all this John still was able to achieve academic excellency and ranked sixth in his graduating class as well as VP of the National Honor Society. John spends time volunteering helping out elderly neighbors and helps with his church’s vacation bible school.
The awards ceremony will take place sometime this summer.