When the opportunity arose to use her talents to help others, Beth Wyeth found her second calling in life. But when her new career also became a way to raise funds to battle blood cancers, the Zionsville native knew she couldn’t say no to being a part of something bigger than herself.
After the COVID-19 pandemic, Wyeth left her 20-year career as a dental hygienist to become a microblading artist at Arched in Zionsville. More than a creative endeavor, Wyeth sees her job as a way to help people, sometimes in life-changing ways.
“It is really creative, and I love the idea of working one-on-one with someone helping them feel better about themselves,” Wyeth said.
It was through her new career that she met clients who were being treated for blood cancers and had lost their hair.
“We see a lot of clients who have gone through or are going through chemotherapy and they are about to lose their eyebrows. So, we do a really natural look,” Wyeth said. “Having confidence every day, waking up and having your entire face there, that’s important.”
Working with those clients inspired Wyeth to get involved with the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, participating in the Visionaries of the Year campaign in Indianapolis. Visionaries of the year is a 10-week philanthropic competition for leaders in local communities across the U.S., where candidates raise funds for LLS, the highest earner awarded the local title and becoming eligible for the national title.
Wyeth said the campaign is a “friendly competition” to raise as much money as possible in 10 weeks. The big prize? bragging rights.
“They have three mission pillars,” she said of LLS. “One is research, the next is patient and family support, and the last is advocacy, getting the word out about different medical procedures as well as talking to lawmakers about making changes that can steer policies around blood cancers… It’s just amazing how much LLS does for people across the board. It doesn’t just hit (one age group), it hits everybody. It doesn’t matter what socioeconomic level you are; it doesn’t care. It’s out there and it’s really prevalent. So, the work that LLS is doing, the research alone, it blows my mind.”
This is Wyeth’s first effort at fundraising.
“This is new to me. It is different. But we can do hard things,” she said.
The campaign, which kicked off in March, runs until May 18 and includes a team of more than a dozen people helping Wyeth with fundraising efforts, seeking out sponsors and hosting events such as an event at CoHatch in Zionsville from 7 to 10 p.m. April 24, Botox and Bubbles from 4 to 7 p.m. May 9 at Arched. Other fundraising efforts include a pizza fundraiser with Marco’s Pizza on Michigan Road through May 17 as well a partnership with Salty Cowboy where 20 percent of April 9 and April 23 sales will be donated to Wyeth’s campaign.
For more information and to donate, visit pages.lls.org/voy/in/indy24/bwyeth.
About Leukemia and Lymphoma Society
- LLS has helped advance more than 75 percent of blood cancer treatments approved by the FDA over the last five years.
- LLS provided $142 million in financial assistance to blood cancer patients and their families in 2020.
- LLS volunteers include 30,000 people across the country who advocate for state and federal policies that improve the lives of cancer patients and survivors.
- In 2023, the nationwide revenue for the Visionary of the Year campaign raised $37 million dollars to help find a cure for blood cancers.
