Founded in 1949, the LLS is an aegis organization, supporting blood cancer research. Since its inception, the institution has invested nearly $1.7 billion in groundbreaking research, pioneering many of today’s innovative approaches.

 

In November 2023, Kuehlthau was diagnosed with Stage 3 Anaplastic Large Cell Lymphoma (ALCL) alk+.

 

Kuehlthau shares, “This school year, I have come to Bellarmine, and when I started school, I didn’t want to tell anyone I met about what I went through. I didn’t want everyone to look at me and their first thoughts to be, “Oh, she’s the kid with cancer,” or “I should treat her differently because of her cancer” because that isn’t what defines me.”

 

This year, she was selected as the LLS Honored Hero for their Greater Washington Light the Night event on October 26, 2024.

 

“LLS has been such a great group to work with and very supportive. I’m very excited to spread awareness to people in our community and help those in need. I want to let others know that they're not alone no matter what they’re going,” states Kuehlthau.

More information about Kourtney and LLS can be found here.