By VERNON ROBISON
The Progress
An Indiana woman who grew up in Moapa Valley is seeking to make a real difference in furthering cancer research in the country. And she has already hit the ground running.
Celestial Stevens, a 2001 graduate of Moapa Valley High School, was nominated to participate in the “Visionary of the Year” fundraising campaign, done each year by the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS).
LLS is the largest nonprofit dedicated to curing blood cancer in the United States.
“They (LLS) select people and ask if you want to accept their nomination to become a candidate for Visionary of the Year,” Celestial explained in an interview with The Progress last week. “When you accept, you assemble a fundraising team and then set an audacious goal. Then you go to work with your family, friends, companies, business partners to raise as much as you possibly can.”
It becomes something like a contest amongst the other candidates to see who can raise the most in the 10 week period, this year between March 2 and May 13.
“The great thing is that we all win because we are all raising funds for the battle with cancer,” Celestial said.
Celestial gladly accepted the nomination and, without reservation, set a lofty goal: to raise $100,000 in the campaign.
Her untiring efforts, talents at team building and passion for the cause has got her off to a great start. In the first two weeks of the campaign, she has already raised $20,000 toward her goal.
The fight against cancer is close to Celestial and her family. Her husband Elijah has been battling cancer of various kinds since 2005, the same year he also graduated from Moapa Valley High School.
In 2021, Elijah received a Stage IV diagnosis. He is currently receiving treatment at the University of Michigan Rogel Cancer Center.
Stevens said that her husband is the inspiration that led her to accept the nomination from LLS.
“Because Elijah is so amazingly hopeful and positive, no matter what, it has inspired me to want to give back to other people in similar circumstances; and to spread his light and love and example that he has set for me,” Celestial said. “We are very passionate about doing what we can to pay forward all of the love and support we have received as a family to other families that are facing cancer diagnoses.”
Celestial works for the Do It Best corporation. She began her career many years ago at the warehouse operation in Mesquite. Since then she has continued to work for the company, moving first to Oregon for a time, and then to Fort Wayne, Indiana where the family has lived for the past 11 years.
The couple has a nine-year-old son named Tony who they adopted in 2013.
Celestial expressed appreciation for the Do It Best company for supporting her in this fundraising effort. “One of the things I really love about Do It Best is that, no matter where I have worked, it seems like a big family,” she said.
Celestial has received words of encouragement from her former team members in Mesquite as well as co-workers now in Indiana. “They are all hoping the best for Elijah and the company is very supportive of any and all ways that our team gives back to the community,” she said. “I appreciate that support because we have giving hearts and so having an employee that supports those efforts is really special.”
Celestial said that she has been able to involve many friends and associates from Indiana in her cause. “There are some peers and friends that don’t come from my work family that have gladly come aboard in the effort,” she said. “Some of them work for big companies that have offered corporate sponsorships that have been quite helpful.”
The movement even extends across the country to the hometown in Nevada. Celestial has a few good friends that are organizing an on-the-ground effort here in Moapa Valley. These include local residents Angela Snoreen and Mandy Cole who have joined the team.
Celestial credited her upbringing in the Moapa Valley with giving her the desire to make a difference for those around her.
“Both Elijah and I have had the great fortune of knowing a lot of really generous and kind people where we grew up,” she said. “We learned from those folks that love is an action word and that it calls us to action to do what we can with our time, treasure and talents to care for other people. So, in part of this, we are just letting folks out in the valley know that we learned from them and their generosity; and that we are really trying to pay all of that forward to other people.”
All donations from the campaign will go to support the LLS mission to cure leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin’s disease and myeloma; and improve the quality of life of patients and their families.
Tax deductible donations to Celestial’s campaign can be made by going to https://pages.lls.org/voy/in/neindiana23/cstevens or by scanning the QR code published with this article.
Donors may also mail contributions directly to Celestial Stevens at 1215 Monte Carlo Dr., Huntertown, IN 46748. All checks should be made payable to “The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society” and reference Celestial Stevens in the memo section.
