The ideal candidates are community and business leaders who are quite philanthropic, ambitious, socially active resourceful and passionate about making a difference in the lives of people suffering from blood cancers. Their unstoppable ambition drives them to fundraise in a very large scale capacity with record breaking results. Patrick Walby and his brother Philip Walby are the founders of Brake Depot, and Brake Team, companies that have given back to the comunity. Brake Team and Brake Depot are auto repair shops that specialize in brake repair. Photo is Patrick of the brakebrothers and Monica Zech is from Traffic Watch.

On May 10, Patrick Walby and Monica Zech, nominated for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Man and Woman of the Year, including others such as Dr. Miguel Alvarez, Dr. Richard Prince, Sosimo Benavidez, Bruce Blackham, Lydia Bracero, Henry Gutierrez, Pamela Gutierrez, Deborah Lawrence, Butch Newland, Paul Schmidt, and Lynn Stedd at the Bahia Resort Ballroom, being entertained with magic acts, champagne and food. Over 300 people attended.
The Man and Woman of the Year Campaign is a fundraising competition organized by The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Every year hundreds of candidates compete for the title in 40 plus cities, raising money for the Society over a 10-week period. Titles are awarded to both the man and the woman in each city who raises the most money for the Society. Money raised benefits the Society's mission, to cure blood cancers and to improve the lives of patients and their families. Patrick Walby attended the function with Monica Zech of Radio fame

History 
The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's Man & Woman of the Year campaign began in 1990 in San Francisco to honor John Spencer, a valued employee at Hastings Clothier in San Francisco and a Society volunteer. Spencer died of leukemia at the age of 39. It was in John's memory that Hastings began supporting the Society's Northern California Chapter with the San Francisco Man & Woman of the Year event. Now, a highly visible fundraising program.
The Reason 
Although someone new is diagnosed with a blood cancer every five minutes, there is great hope for the future. The Society is the world's largest national voluntary health organization dedicated to curing leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma, and to improving the quality of life of patients and families.