[ back ]
Dedication to finding a cure
(by Erin Patricia Griffiths - September 12, 2008)
 |
|
Staff Photo By Erin Patricia Griffiths
Abigail Lopez, left, and Olivia Beattie have raised over $3,300 to date for their donations to the Avon Breast Cancer Walk being held in
New York City from Saturday, Oct. 4 to Sunday, Oct. 5. The pair will be two of the 24 youth crew volunteers working to provide water to participants, setting up facilities, and cheering on walkers from the sidelines.
|
Standing at the closing ceremonies of the 2007 Avon Breast Cancer Walk in New York City, Olivia Beattie, 11-year-old resident of River Vale, and her cousin Abigail Lopez, 10-year-old resident of Harrington Park, were so overcome with emotion from the inspiring stories of survivors, they felt compelled to do something to help. “I wanted to influence young people to try to be a part in helping fight breast cancer,” said Olivia.
The girls attended the event to support mother and aunt Jennifer Lopez at the finish line. Jennifer was walking with a friend who has suffered from breast cancer and continues to struggle with the disease, having developed stage four cancer when she was in her early thirties. Watching her complete the race, despite the complications she has encountered in her treatment and the battle she has had to fight, inspired the girls.
In addition, the girls’ grandmother is a breast cancer survivor, and the two wanted to be a part of something where they could help raise money and awareness about the disease they have been personally affected by. “They were at the closing ceremonies with tears coming down their faces at some of the success stories and the survivor stories and some of the sadder stories,” said Jennifer.
Initially, both girls wanted to walk in the event to participate in raising money for the cure, but discovered they were too young to do so. When Jennifer received an e-mail about applications being taken for volunteer youth crew for the Avon Walk this year, she passed on the information to the girls who were all too eager to apply. There were 62 applicants for the crew and only 24 chosen, two of who were Olivia and Abigail. The application process involved writing several mini-essays detailing why the girls felt they wanted to be a part of the event, what they would change at their school, their experiences with being part of a team, one person they would like to meet, and what they could offer to the youth crew. “We had to write a lot of essays about why we wanted to do it and what we wanted to get out of the experience,” said Olivia.
In one of her essays, Olivia described what she felt she could offer as a volunteer. “The walkers need people to help lift their spirits during the walk to take their minds off how hard they are working. I feel I have the confidence, determination and true desire to make a difference that will make me a great member of the youth crew,” she wrote.
Abigail included in one of her essays how moved she was by the experience of attending the closing ceremonies at last year’s event. “When we were at the closing ceremonies last year we were both crying and begged our moms to let us do it next year. We saw the young crew members and knew we wanted to be a part of it.”
After their acceptance to the crew, the girls’ creative juices began flowing, and they came up with a number of fundraising ideas to generate money to donate to the cause. They held a cookie and ice pop sale at their schools that raised $400.
The girls also organized a pool party with swimming, volleyball, and an art project. Instead of having a party for her birthday in January, Olivia waited for the pool party to celebrate and asked her friends to donate $10 or more to the cause instead of giving gifts. With siblings and friends, the party included approximately 25-30 kids. But this was not the end of the fundraising projects for the pair. They are presently working to organize a garage sale to be held at the end of September at Olivia’s River Vale home, with all proceeds benefiting their breast cancer funds.
Additionally, friends of Olivia, through a surprise party they held this summer to help raise more money, collectively donated $150 for the cause. The girls have also been actively sending out e-mails and letters to neighbors and friends for donations.
| How to donate: |
| Olivia Beattie and Abigail Lopez will hold a garage sale, with all proceeds generated donated to their funds for the Avon Breast Cancer Walk, on Saturday, Sept. 27 and Sunday, Sept. 28 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at 633 Woodside Ave. in River Vale. For more information on how to donate directly to the funds, contact Laura Beattie at Labeattie@verizon.net. |
The girls’ parents are thrilled with what they have done, explaining that when they signed up to participate in the crew, they believed they would send out letters and e-mails requesting donations, but did not anticipate they would go so far as to hold several events to raise more money. Their dedication to the event and the seriousness with which they have taken on their volunteer work has filled their parents with pride. “I am just amazed,” said Olivia’s mother Laura Beattie. “I have to be honest, when my sister walked last year, she just basically sent out e-mails to everybody she knew and they would send her money. And I figured that is what they would do. They did way more than what I ever thought they would.”
The participation in the youth crew will require a great deal of work for the pair. Their parents will drop the girls off on the evening of Oct. 3, the night before the walk begins, and they will stay at a camp supervised by five adults through Sunday, after the closing ceremonies. The girls will have to wake up at 4 a.m. on Saturday, and 5:30 a.m. on Sunday to set up the necessary facilities and to hand out water for participants in the walk. Additionally, they attended a training day on Sunday, Sept. 7 where they learned about their duties as part of the crew, met other youth volunteers, and learned cheers to support the walkers at rest stops.
The girls are nervous about the experience, but very excited, unable to keep the smiles off their faces as they sat dressed in bright pink Avon Walk tee shirts and checkered pajama bottoms. They just hope that they can make a difference, and that their dedication to volunteering to raise money for this deadly disease will inspire other young people to take action. “They should learn that it is not just adults who can make a difference, but kids can to,” said Olivia. “You don’t necessarily have to do this [youth crew]. You can just donate money… any amount counts. It doesn’t matter how much you give, as long as you are helping,” added Abigail. “It makes you feel happy that you did something good.”
Although the girls were only required to raise $500 each for their participation in the event, they have already far exceeded that marker. To date, their combined fund totals have reached $3,300. But they are not finished yet, and they hope their upcoming garage sale will increase their donations even more because they are dedicated to doing whatever they can to raise money for a cure.
Erin Patricia Griffiths' e-mail address is GriffithsE@northjersey.com.
| Comments (1) |
On September 16, 2008 louise said:
What a wonderful heartwarming story. Both Olivia and Abagail are 2 angels! It is so amazing to see we have such compasionate young people in our community. See you at the garage sale!
|
| |
[ back ]
