Janine Reppert of New Tripoli claimed the title of Eastern Pennsylvania's Woman of the Year for The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's Man and Woman of the Year competition.

Her name was announced June 20 at the grand finale at Bear Creek Mountain Resort, Macungie.

The night was a celebration of all 14 candidate's collective efforts as they enjoyed cocktails and hors d'oeuvres, live and silent auctions, and dinner and dancing.

For the last 10 weeks, nine candidates competed for the title of Man and Woman of the Year, where they used their leadership abilities to conduct their own fundraising campaigns for the society.

Every dollar counted as one vote.

The male and female candidates with the most votes were named the Eastern Pennsylvania's Man and Woman of the Year.

The nine candidates collectively raised $170,000.

Andy Lee of Coppersburg earned the title of Man of the Year.

Money raised will benefit LLS' mission to cure blood cancers and to improve the quality of life for patients and their families.

This year's fundraising was in honor of two patient heroes, the 2013 Boy and Girl of the Year are Sam Mackaravitz and Madison Arnold; both from Emmaus.

"We are so grateful for the commitment and generosity of these fourteen fine men and women who took a 10-week journey with us to challenge themselves to raise money for a lifesaving cancer research," said Maida R. Milone, executive director of the Eastern Pennsylvania Chapter.

For information about The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's Man and Woman of the Year campaign, visit mwoy.org/epa.