By Sabrina Yates
Staff Writer
Clubs at Mira Costa have the platform to bring light to important issues. Mira Costa’s Soroptimist International Women’s Club, or S-Club did just that Brain Tumor Awareness Week was held from April eighth to April fourteenth and shared with Costa about an issue that affects six hundred thousand people in the United States alone. S-Club hosted various events and fundraisers to help bring attention and enlighten Costa about the truth of brain tumors and to gain support with their cause.
A brain tumor is a group of abnormal cells that. An estimated sixty thousand adults and children will be diagnosed this year alone. S-Club works with pediatric brain tumor patients because statistics have shown that brain tumors are more likely to appear in children than in adults. Brain tumors are the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths in children under the age of twenty.
“I think it is great that S-Club is doing so much good work with children,” junior Gabbie Liddy said. “They’re helping with an important issue and I didn’t know about all the hands on work they are doing with children and how they are help fighting cancer.”
S-Club started Brain Tumor Awareness Week to get those outside of the club involved in the fight against brain tumors and to spread the word about what it is and how it affects people. Brain Tumor Awareness Week by selling bracelets as a token that reminded people of the dangers of brain tumors and the people that it affects every year. The money made with the bracelets goes towards research.
“This is the fourth year that S-Club has done a Brain Tumor Awareness week,” senior Anna Pavlova said. “This year we sold bracelets for one dollar and we held a fundraiser at Rubio’s to help raise money for research and all of the proceeds went to Brainwaves, a nonprofit which supports new kinds of pediatric research.”
S-Club made sure that they were able to have hands on interaction with the disease itself. One of the big events thrown by S-Club was the bowling party they threw to end off Brain Tumor Awareness Week that celebrated a successful week. The bowling party allowed the girls of S-Club to interact with the patients.
“Junior, Briana Stone, and I are the head of the We Can Committee,” Pavlova said. “Every Tuesday there is a sandwich and game night where S-Club members eat and play games with the brain tumor patients.”
S-Club’s We Can Pediatric Brain Tumor Committee is in charge of making sure that they raise money for research and to help S-Club interact with patients with the disease. S-Club’s contributions and the We Can Committee are not limited to Brain Tumor Awareness Week but they see it as an opportunity to expand their work in the fight against brain tumors. They frequently enjoy the company of the patients.
“It is amazing to see all the brain tumor patients laughing and having a good time,” Pavlova said.
Brain Tumor Awareness Week did not only give Costa information about an important issue that affects so many children, but it also united Costa for a good cause. S-Club’s bracelets could be seen being worn throughout campus and their work with the patients inspired students.
“It’s nice to see teenagers being active about a good cause,” Faye said. “I think the work that S-Club is doing is inspiring other students to step up for a cause.”
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