Students and staff at Penn Middle School donated 100 cancer totes to UPMC’s Hillman Cancer Center in honor of 7th-grade teacher, Jackie Landram. Mrs. Landram lost her battle with cancer in 2022. Her friends and colleagues established ‘Landram’s Light,’ a charitable organization to remember her and positively impact the community.
Each Landram’s Light tote contained encouraging notes from students and items intended to ease the burden of treatments: a blanket, water bottle, beanie, puzzle books, hand sanitizer, lip balm, tissues, hand warmers, and hard candy.
“Jackie had a profound impact on the lives of everyone she met,” said teacher/colleague Mrs. Meredith Hodge. “We are all just trying to shine her light and carry on her legacy of living with grit.”
Each tote was valued at approximately $60.00, and funds were generated through events such as school dances, Christmas-themed activities, a dodgeball tournament, and a district-wide teachers jeans day. More information about Landram’s Light is available at www.landramslight.com.
Penn Middle School students Emily Dransart and Gianna Enick pack a tote
Students form an assembly line to pack the tote bags
Students and staff with the 100 totes they packed for cancer patients
A tote bag and contents