Students Walk to Raise Funds for Cancer Research
According to the American Cancer Society, more than half a million people die of cancer each year. Cancer is second only to heart disease in mortality rates in the United States. It is an illness that affects everyone and scientists have toiled long and hard to find a cure. But the research is not cheap and events such as Relay for Life are held throughout the country, throughout the year, to finance such endeavors. One of those events will be held this weekend at Birmingham Charter High School in Van Nuys, where students and residents will gather to walk for 24 hours straight. Erika Cunningham, an eighth grader from Mt. Gleason Middle School in Sunland, will be one of those participants.
"It's actually a great event. You get to learn about cancer and have fun with your friends knowing you're doing a good thing," said the 14-year-old, who is taking part for the second year in a row. She said no one in her family is or has been affected by the disease, but Cunningham knows it can happen to anyone. "I know one of my mom's closest friends had cancer, but she didn't make it," she said. "She (her mom) is very happy I'm doing this."
As part of Relay for Life, teams camp out at the school track grounds and take turns walking or running around the track. Each team is asked to have a representative on the track at all times during the event. Relays are 24 hours in length, symbolizing the reality that cancer never sleeps. "It's pretty tiring, but in the end, I know what I did was a good thing," Cunningham said. Like Cunningham, more than 400 middle and high school students throughout Los Angeles will gather at Birmingham High School for the event, which runs from 9 a.m. Saturday, June 4, through 9 a.m. Sunday, June 5.
The students are members of After-School All-Stars (ASASLA), an after-school organization whose programs educate, enlighten and inspire students through various activities centered around health, fitness and nutrition; the visual and performing arts; and youth leadership and community service learning.
The organization serves 11,000 students at 25 schools located in disadvantaged areas throughout LA County, including four Valley area schools – Mt. Gleason, Mulholland Middle School in Lake Balboa, Porter Middle School in Granada Hills, and Vista Middle School in Panorama City. The weekend event is part of ASAS-LA's leadership and community service program, The Entourage, dedicated to helping young people understand the practical definition of leadership. Anabel De La Cueva, an Entourage program leader, said this is the third year a Relay for Life Program was organized at Birmingham High. The event requires months of preparation and fundraising activities by the students, who also learn about the disease.
"We teach the kids how cancer is produced in the body, the different types of cancer and how to prevent it," De La Cueva said.
She said staying awake for 24 hours straight also teaches the students what it is like for a cancer patient to live "day by day." "It brings this survival close to home for them," De La Cueva said. Fundraising in a major part of the preparation. Last year, almost $10,000 was raised in the Birmingham High event. The money goes directly to the American Cancer Society. To raise funds students do a number of activities, from soliciting donations at home to organizing Shakey's Nights, selling food, doing raffles at school carnivals or printing and selling event T-shirts.
The Relay for Life event takes place at the Birmingham High School track, 6435 Balboa Blvd., in Van Nuys
