America already fell in love with One Life to Live's Kristen Alderson, who grew up on-screen as One Life to Live's Starr Manning before assuming the role of Kiki Jerome on General Hospital. But now there's even more reason to love the former daytime star: she's spearheading a new campaign to help raise money for cancer research.
"Some of you may or may not know this but my mom's dad passed away from Leukemia before I was born. Kassie DePaiva (the woman who played my mother [Blair Cramer] for all of the years I was on OLTL who I love and adore) got diagnosed with Acute Myloid Leukemia last July. Kassie has since been declared cancer free, Thank God! Then, my brother Eddie [ex-Matthew Buchanan, OLTL] was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma in November. It's scary how often cancer has popped up in my life and many others' lives recently," she shared in a lengthy message on Facebook.
"The commercials alone are constant. I want them to find a cure. I know for a fact that Kassie and Eddie's experiences wouldn't be half as successful as they are today without all of the advances in medicine over the years. So I'm working with the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society to raise as much money possible in a campaign that runs until June. It would mean so much if you could take out the time to check out the website and donate. No donation is too small. I mean that. Times are tough, and I hate asking for money and I wouldn't if I didn't think it would help. Thank you for your constant love and support! Every ‘like' ‘love' and ‘comment' is appreciated, always."
Alderson joined OLTL at the age of six and stayed with the ABC series until its network cancellation in 2011. She once again took on the role in 2012 for OLTL's sister soap, General Hospital, but was forced to switch to the role of Kiki Jerome during Prospect Park's lawsuit with the network. Shortly after receiving a Daytime Emmy Award for her work on GH, the actress decided not to renew her contract and departed the series in 2015.
Alderson's cancer fundraising page can be found at MWOY.com.
What do you think about Alderson's efforts to help raise money for cancer research? Have you or a loved one been affected by cancer? We'd love to hear your stories. We want to hear from you -- so drop your comments in the Comments section below, tweet about it on Twitter, share it on Facebook, or chat about it on our Message Boards.
