Community Service Award
John P. Hyland, CFP®
Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of New Jersey
Morristown Financial Group
LPL Financial
“I never understood or truly appreciated how cancer affects a family,” said John Hyland of Morristown (N.J.) Financial Group (broker dealer, LPL Financial).
“The impact is massive,” he said. “It’s like getting hit by a bus. For some cases, like mine, you get the diagnosis and go straight to the hospital.”
Mr. Hyland began volunteering with The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society in 1993 in honor of an aunt who had died of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) the year before. He has been a board member for 10 years and now serves as board president. Last spring, in what he calls a “twisted irony,” he too was diagnosed with AML and is currently undergoing treatment.
Year after year, Mr. Hyland has successfully led his chapter to raise approximately $6 million a year, serving about 1,000 New Jersey patients and their families. The funding supports research and clinical trials, financial support for needy patients, education, support groups and peer-to-peer support (pairing patients with others who have lived through the same disease).
“We have tremendous return on investment,” said Mr. Hyland, citing years of LLS-funded research that led to the discovery of chemotherapy, radiation therapy, bone marrow transplants and targeted cancer therapy.