Relays for Life happening throughout region
Modesto High School on Friday held its second annual Relay for Life fundraiser for the American Cancer Society. More than 100 students – from Modesto, Beyer and Downey high schools – on 18 teams walked a campus field from 4 to 10 p.m. Around the course were booths where they could make donations, play games and eat treats.
Modesto High senior Mahima Krishnamoorthi started the campus event last year. Friday’s student-run fundraiser made $2,700 before the walk even got underway, she said. That was the total amount made the year before, according to Krishnamoorthi. She said it’s a great event that brings students from different high schools together to do something for a good cause.
The event was particularly special for Lyndsey Sexton, 16, who was diagnosed with stage 2 ovarian cancer in December and is in treatment. Her parents, Amandah and Charles, placed a Relay for Life medal around her neck to recognize her battle with cancer. “You don’t know how good people are till something like this happens,” Amandah Sexton said, expressing her gratitude for all who have helped them.
She also was thankful for support from Whitmore Charter School in Ceres, where Sexton currently attends classes. Before her cancer diagnosis, she was a student at Modesto High.
California State University, Stanislaus, in Turlock also held a Relay for Life on Friday, and events at Oakdale and Ceres high schools begin Saturday morning at 8:30 and 9, respectively, according to an American Cancer Society online sign-up page.
There are many more Relay for Life fundraising walks in the weeks ahead, including at Hughson High on May 1; Riverbank High and Patterson High on May 2; Johansen High in Modesto, Pitman High in Turlock and East Union High in Manteca, all on May 16; Ripon High on June 6; and Escalon High on June 27.
For more information or to sign up, go to www.relayforlife.org.
This story was originally published April 24, 2015 at 7:31 PM with the headline "Relays for Life happening throughout region."