Ananya started Letters of Light at age 15 after the passing of her mother due to metastatic breast cancer. Seeing her mother fight cancer for 3 years made her realize that patients need more support from the community as they go through treatment, and that they need to be empowered during treatments and know that there are always people rooting for them. Ananya firmly believes we, as a society, need to do everything in our control to help give hope and brighten patients' days as they face extremely difficult stages in their lives. When her mom was going through chemotherapy, Ananya would find various quotes, poems, and excerpts for her mom to read in the hopes of encouraging her mom. After Ananya lost her mom, she felt lost and willing to grasp at any straws to be able to connect with her mom again. She became determined to find a way to help people in situations similar to her mom's. Ananya soon noticed that letter writing is so rare nowadays, and the chances of receiving a heartfelt, handwritten letter is close to 0. Through seeing this gap, she realized letters are a special way to show you care and bring a smile on someone's face. She has now been driving the Letters of Light mission for a year, and Ananya believes this also helped her deal with the grief and loss in her life. Ananya is extremely grateful for the immense support received for Letters of Light, and she is looking forward to the organization's upcoming events, plans, and working with the wonderful Letters of Light management team! Ananya is also an advocate of preventative healthcare and hopes to continue educating more and more on early detection screenings, terminal and chronic diseases, and cultivating a community of empathy. Ananya is involved in various healthcare organizations across the DFW area and enjoys taking part in and volunteering at various charity runs and walkathons promoting cancer awareness, overall wellness, and celebrating survivors. She is an incoming junior at Plano East Senior High School and hopes to make strides for cancer awareness all around the nation!