On Friday May 16,a mixture of tears and cheers brought donors, candidates, volunteers and survivors together at Talking Stick Resort & Casino for the Grand Finale of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's(LLS) 2014 Arizona Chapter Man & Woman of the Year Campaign.

For 10 weeks, 12 community leaders raised funds for life-saving cancer research and patient support as official candidates for the Man & Woman of the Year. Each dollar raised over the course of the 10 weeks counted as one vote and the culmination of the campaign included a gala celebration and the announcement of this year’s winners -- attorney Chuck Hauff of Snell & Wilmer and Cristina Munoz of Redflex Traffic Systems.

Combined, the 12 candidates raised more than $432,000 to support the mission of LLS. Hauff became the first candidate in chapter history to raise more than $100,000 and Hauff, Munoz, and runners up Jessica Catlin of the Greater Phoenix Economic Council and the Mayo Clinic’s Dr. Rafael Fonseca each earned entry into the Honor Circle for candidates raising more than $50,000.

“It is truly humbling to see the amount of passion and effort these 12 people, as well as their friends, family and colleagues, put into this campaign over the past several weeks,” said Jim Brewer, executive director of the Arizona Chapter of LLS. “While we did crown a Man and Woman of the Year, everyone associated with this campaign is a winner. The only loser in all of this is cancer.”

Candidates received inspiration throughout the campaign from the 2014 Boy & Girl of the Year, seven-year-old leukemia survivor Jack Welch and seven-year-old lymphoma survivor Elizabeth Blair. Both are now in remission.

“Getting to know Jack and Elizabeth and their families, understanding the challenges they’ve faced together, really touched our candidates and everyone involved with this campaign,” said Judy Bernas of the University of Arizona, co-chair of the campaign with Shutterfly, Inc.’s Erica Anderson.

The 2014 Man & Woman of the Year Candidates Included Catlin, Kiki Cordero of COR Pilates Sports Rehab, Fonseca, Hauff, Scott Harkey of Owens Harkey Advertising, Michelle McQueen of Lagardere Unlimited, Munoz, Fletcher Perry of Colliers International, Ali Rizvi of North Star Resource Group, Marty Shultz of Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, LLP, Dr. Schavon Waggoner of Phoenix Union High School District, and Jason Wong of Asian Corporate & Entrepreneur Leaders.

Proceeds from the campaign will directly fund life-saving blood cancer research, financial assistance to cover patient expenses for transportation, medication and testing, and free educational materials and events for patients and their families.