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January 20, 2010
When Life
Hands You Lemons Make Lemonade
Five Women
Are Moved To Join Fight Against Childhood Cancer
 You
can make
a difference too!
Alaina
Scavullo, a paraprofessional at Woodlawn Elementary School and
four of her friends were inspired by Alexandra Scott, a girl in
Manchester, Conn. who was diagnosed with
neuroblastoma (which is a
form of cancer), at the age of one. When Scott turned four, she
came up with the idea to hold a lemonade stand to raise money to
“help her doctors” find a cure for cancer. With the help of her
family, she spent the following four years of her life
raising over a million dollars for pediatric cancer research. Alex
died at age 8 in 2004.
Alex’s Lemonade
Stand (ALSF) is now a foundation committed to finding a cure
for all children with cancer. Today Scavullo, her friends,
family, co-workers and the students and families at Woodlawn are
also working hard for the cause.
Scavullo
said that she and her four friends Lauren Shea, Jennifer Vogel,
Jenny Nagengast and Angelina Berghela, were so touched by the
wisdom and positive outlook of young Alex that they adopted and
took young Alex’s principle, “when life hands you lemons make
lemonade,” quite literally. The five were moved to action and
decided try to make a difference. In addition to turning every
school and community event into an opportunity to raise money
for ALSF, Scavullo and her friends have committed to run a 26.2
mile Mardi Gras Rock n’ Roll Marathon in New Orleans on February
28.
While to
some this might seem as an opportunity to get some exercise in
and maybe train a little harder. But Scavullo said neither she
nor any of her team mates have ever run in a marathon,
nonetheless, 26.2 miles. “Training has been an exciting
journey,” she added. “We are learning so much about running and
athleticism, what our bodies can do, what we can do for a cause,
and how we can inspire others and raise awareness for this
worthy endeavor.”
ALSF is
sponsoring the five as part of the “Team Lemon” program. Each
of them must raise at least $1,500 for a team total of $7,500.
Scavullo and her team instead decided to raise the bar and are
now aiming to raise $10,000.
While they
are about half way there, Scavullo and her team members are
confident that they will hit the mark. Scavullo has held many
fundraisers including a dunk tank at the Saratoga Fall Festival
and an all day Pub Crawl sponsored by 12 restaurants in downtown
Saratoga. A few weeks ago, the group received a generous
donation of $1,000 from a local man who works in Afghanistan and
heard about the group’s efforts.
Scavullo
said the Woodlawn Elementary School staff has also embraced her
efforts. “Many of my co-workers have continued to show their
support and interest in what my friends and I are doing for the
cause,” she said. Woodlawn held a holiday donation drive and one
of the teachers has spear-headed an effort to continue to
collect donations which she estimated to be about $550.
She still has many fundraisers in the
works and some right at the school. Scavullo
held
a Lemonade Stand at Woodlawn School’s Thriller Chiller Dance on
January 22. She sold lemonade for 50 cents a cup and
raised about $200. A list of other events in and around the area is
located online:
http://runvogelsrun.wordpress.com/category/fundraising-events/
“Despite
the outpouring of support from the community and the number of
fundraising events we have planned, we still have a long way to
go before reaching our goal,” said Scavullo. “We would
sincerely appreciate any donation.”
Scavullo and her team have started a blog
with their training highlights and fundraising status - http://runvogelsrun.wordpress.com/
“We are a silly bunch,” she said. “More importantly, we have a
lot of heart and motivation for this cause.”
Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation is committed to finding a cure
for all childhood cancers and has funded over 100 research
projects at nearly 50 institutions across the country. In
addition to funding cutting-edge research, finding better
treatments and ultimately cures, the foundation also funds
nursing grants to improve the quality of life and care of
children with cancer. ALSF also helps families with travel
expenses as they travel for treatments.
Donations
If you would like to donate, you can do it
online:
http://www.alexslemonade.org/stands/20285
Double click on the “donate” logo
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