Cure Club is a school organization that focuses on cancer-related issues. The club works with fundraisers and societies to support people with cancer and spread awareness about cancer, Science Teacher and Cure Club Sponsor Deborah Stein said.
Every Friday morning students go to the meetings to discuss their plans for the week. The club likes to focus each meeting on what national cancer month it is, senior Faith Oswald, Cure Club Board Member, said. For pediatric cancer awareness week at South, students created ribbons and goodie bags to hand out to their peers to spread awareness. This year for Breast Cancer Awareness Month they encouraged all students and staff to wear pink on Oct. 30.
Cure Club supports several organizations like Cal’s Angels and The American Cancer Society. The club also participates in Leukemia Lymphoma Society’s Light the Night Walk where people have different colored lanterns that represent if you’re a survivor or if you lost someone, junior Sammie Ognar, Cure Club Board Member, explained. The Cal’s Angels Foundation raises awareness and money for pediatric cancer.
“This year we helped with the student council’s Go Gold initiative for pediatric cancer which benefited Cal’s Angels,” Stein said.
Despite the support for cancer being loud the disease itself can be quiet. There aren’t always obvious signs someone has cancer. It’s important for people to know how to prevent it, Oswald stated. This is why awareness is essential; it pushes people to look into prevention.
“Raising awareness matters because it’s how we’ll find a cure and help other people discover if they have cancer early on, we can help the odds of them surviving,” Ognar said.
While raising money and awareness is important to the fight against cancer it isn’t the only thing people can do to help. Being there for others as a friend or just somebody there to understand also supports those battling cancer. In addition, being there for others who have a loved one fighting cancer is important. Cancer affects a lot of people, Ognar said.
“Having cancer is very scary,” Stein said. “Being there to listen, and treat them like a regular person, not just a cancer patient is important.”
Cure Club’s end goal is to help find a cure for all variations of cancer and to reduce the severity of the disease. The club is always welcoming new members, with more people we can make a greater impact, Ognar said. Cure club is a great way to show support to those struggling with cancer.
“It’s really important to honor survivors,” Oswald said.
