Long Island schools joined the fight against cancer by raising funds and awareness in recognition of childhood-cancer and breast-cancer awareness months.
In Northport, the high school's girls volleyball team raised more than $8,000 for Danielle DeSimone, an alumnae with leukemia, during a Digs for Danielle game against Walt Whitman High School. The school's field hockey program also hosted a Play 4 a Cure tournament in which nine Suffolk County teams raised some $2,200 for the National Foundation for Cancer Research.
"A few years ago, I had the idea for a multiteam scrimmage fundraiser," Northport coach Gina Walling said of the second annual tournament. "It's really inspiring to see girls come together for this cause that affects so many women _ especially here on the Island."
In Centerport, students from Smithtown High Schools, East and West, and Harborfields High School raised roughly $9,000 through a charity swim at the hamlet's yacht club hosted by the nonprofit Swim Across America. Proceeds go toward research at hospitals and cancer centers, the nonprofit said.
In Nesconset, Great Hollow Middle School raised about $3,000 for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital through a Coaches vs. Cancer event that featured field hockey, football and soccer games. Students and staff also dressed in yellow to show awareness of childhood cancer.
In East Islip, the high school's boys and girls volleyball programs raised more than $1,100 for the Side-Out Foundation as part if its Dig Pink initiative. Fundraising efforts included sales of Dig Pink T-shirts as well as baked goods during game day.
