The Savannah Office of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society Georgia Chapter announced its Man & Woman of the Year last night at their campaign’s Grand Finale Gala at Savannah Station. Twelve local Savannah community leaders -- six men and six women -- have been competing with each other for the last ten weeks to raise the most money for LLS.  In its third year, the event raised $392,621, exceeding the original goal by $100,000. Ryan Fulchi, DMD of Habersham Dental, was named the 2015 Man of the Year, raising $42,614. Suzanne Anderson, MD of Chatham Hospitalists was named the 2015 Woman of the Year, raising $128,208.  The Man of the Year runner up was Matthew Allan of Moves With A Purpose Team @ Keller Williams Realty and the Woman of the Year runner up was Kacey Kennickell of The Kennickell Group.

“We were pleased to recruit such an outstanding class of candidates for this campaign. While only two people are awarded the titles Man & Woman of the Year, we are extremely proud of all of our candidates.  Due to their tremendous fundraising efforts we have raised critical funds to find a cure for blood cancers.  We couldn’t be happier with their results,” said Jennie Brewster, Manager of the Savannah Man & Woman of the Year campaign for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. 

This year, Brad Gibson of Capital A. Productions won the Mission Integration Award; given to the candidate who demonstrated exceptional integration of the LLS mission into their campaign. Patrick McCarthy of Rabey Electric Company, Inc. was awarded the Community Involvement Award; given to the candidate that facilitated exposure in the community and built a strong program and team.

Every dollar the candidates raised counted as one “vote” and the candidates with the most votes were awarded the title Man & Woman of the Year. Woman of the Year Suzanne Anderson, MD and Man of the Year Ryan Fulchi, DMD will now be entered into the national competition for Man & Woman of the Year, which will be named in July.  All the candidates competed in honor of LLS’s Boy & Girl of the Year, Dylan and Kyra, local children who are blood cancer survivors and sources of inspiration to others. 

The 2015 Man of the Year nominees were: Matthew Allan of Moves With A Purpose Team @ Keller Williams Realty, KC Andrews of Rountree Brady Allstate Agency, Dr. Jacques Beauchamp of Spine & Sport, Ryan Fulchi, DMD of Habersham Dental Center, Brad Gibson of Capital A Productions and Patrick McCarthy of Rabey Electric Company, Inc.

The 2015 Woman of the Year nominees were: Dr. Suzanne Anderson of Chatham Hospitalists, Cynthia Creighton-Jones of Cape Creations Catering, Inc., Emily Hall of TMX Finance, Kacey Kennickell of The Kennickell Group, Jenna Raynor of Broughton Pharmaceuticals and Jessica Thomas of Memorial Health.

The candidates were selected by a nominating committee co-chaired by Emily Dickinson of Wet Willie’s Management Corp. and Patrick Connell of Ellis, Painter, Ratterree and Adams.  “The Man & Woman of the Year campaign is a great opportunity for participants to network with other candidates while raising money for an important cause,” said Emily Dickinson, Nominating Committee Co-Chair.  “We applaud the tireless efforts of our incredible candidates and thank each of them for making such a significant difference in the lives of so many people.”