A team of high school students from Aurora are taking part in Light the Night and raising money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of Canada.
Light the Night is an annual fundraiser and the largest in Canada for the blood cancer community. In the past, the event has involved a walk and lantern lighting but is being held virtually this year, as it was in 2020 and 2021. It is on Saturday, Oct. 22.
Along with guidance teacher Mark Fuller, a team of Grade 12 students from Dr. G. W. Williams Secondary School will be participating in the virtual event and fundraising campaign.
"My family has been affected with cancer and I think that's something that a lot of people can relate to," said Julia Harris, one of the students.
The lantern lighting element of the event is something she is drawn to and she said it's a "visual representation for people dealing with cancer that we're here for them."
Fellow team member Bernice Chau agreed that it's a good opportunity to raise money and awareness for the cause, while Parmis Riazirad said she felt inspired by "all of these people who are coming together to form this strong community and support one another."
Williams began participating in Light the Night after the death of seven-year-old Sarah Watkin, who had acute myeloid leukemia, in 2014. Sarah's dad, Mark Watkin, is a geography teacher and the school has previously been involved in Sarah's Drive for Hope, a campaign to get more people on stem cell donor registry and find a match for Sarah.
"There was a group of students that came together who wanted to support the cause, but specifically show support for the family that had lost their daughter to a blood cancer," Fuller said. "So it's a school-based route, but it's really just people coming together to support the cause."
He said now that several years have passed, the students today don't have the same connection to Sarah that the first group of students did all those years ago, but they still named the team Sarah's Stars in her honour.
This year's virtual event will feature a broadcast with music, stories of people impacted by blood cancer, and light lanterns that will be mailed out to participants.
Riazirad has participated in a past Light the Night virtual event two years ago and has kept all her lanterns.
"I still have my lanterns, I adore them so much. And it was such an empowering thing to be able to watch this event online, even though it was the very start of COVID," she said. "I'm very, very excited to participate this year."
She said she is hoping to plan a viewing party for fellow students to watch the event together.
Even though there isn't the traditional in-person component, Harris said having the broadcast and being able to hear from survivors is meaningful.
"I think one of the really nice things about this event is that you are getting stories from real people and you're learning about who you're actually helping and I think that just builds on to the community feel that we've been talking about," she said.
Chau said she hopes this year they are successful in their fundraising campaign.
You can donate to the Sarah's Stars team online through Light the Night's website. You can also register to participate in the event online.
