TORONTO — The Anne & Max Tanenbaum Community Hebrew Academy of Toronto’s Wallenberg campus will come together as a community for a Canadian Cancer Society fundraising event aimed at enhancing the quality of life of people with cancer.
TanenbaumCHAT will be the first Jewish day school in the city to run Relay for Life, an overnight, non-competitive 12-hour event. Its fundraising goal is $60,000 and will take place at Esther Shiner Stadium at Bathurst Street and Finch Avenue from May 7 at 7 p.m. until May 8 at 7 a.m.
“The idea is that cancer doesn’t sleep, so the 12–hour program is really meant to mirror the experience of a cancer patient. It is meant to be a challenging event where we stay up for 12 hours to raise awareness and raise funds to help those who are dealing with cancer,” said teacher Josh Sable, co-director of student activities at the school.
“We start in the light together, we go into the darkness together. We have a period of struggle overnight. We get to 3 or 4 a.m. when we’re not sure if we are going to make it or not, and then the sun comes up and we remember. We are ready now to face a new day and its challenges. That really is the goal of the program.”
Sable added: “There is a real buzz around the school. It’s pretty electric.”
Relay For Life is the largest fundraising activity the Canadian Cancer Society runs. In 2014, more than $40 million was raised at some 400 Relay For Life events across Canada.
“Since 1999, Relay For Life events in Canada have raised $439 million toward lifesaving research of all types of cancer and support systems for people going through cancer and their families,” said Kyle Smith, youth program specialist with the Canadian Cancer Society.
Event chairs Maxwell Charlat, Lauren Wintraub, and Miya Strauss are part of a 30-student Grade 12 committee organizing the event.
Grade 10 student Joseph Erlick lost his brother Evan to brain cancer in 2006 when Evan was only 13. Erlick will be participating in his memory.
“Evan had two dreams. He dreamed that children who needed cancer treatments like he did could have somewhere they would be able to relax, play with others and just be kids. He also dreamed that someone would find a cure for cancer.
“Our family did everything we could to make Evan’s dream a reality. Unfortunately, the world is still trying to help Evan’s second dream come true,” Erlick said.
The $20 registration fee includes a Relay For Life T-shirt, a security bracelet and a luminary bag – a small bag filled with sand and a candle. Students will be given an online web page and a pledge envelope and are encouraged to raise as much money as possible.
Relay For Life participants walk or run together around the track. Students are grouped to form teams of approximately 10 people. Each team will designate a captain. There will always be a team member walking throughout the event.
Cancer survivors from the TanenbaumCHAT community – teachers, parents, grandparents, friends, and neighbours – will walk the first lap of the night, a “survivors lap.” The community will then join them by walking around the track in solidarity.
“After it gets dark, we remember those that we have lost to cancer by decorating and lighting special bags called ‘luminaries’ that line the entire track,” Sable said.
The event will have entertainment, food and activities running throughout.
“To date, $42,000 has been raised,” he said.
“Our organization [Canadian Cancer Society] could not run without schools running these events for us. They make an impact on the fight against cancer,” Smith said.
To donate, go to www.relayforlife.ca.