W.T. Clarke High School's Run with the Rams is 10 years strong

The streets of East Meadow were shrouded in fog the morning April 28, but that didn’t stop hundreds of students and families from racing down them during W.T. Clarke High School’s Run with the Rams.

In its 10th year, the one-mile fun run and 5K have continued to garner support as a means of raising funds for the school’s athletic program and members of the community in need of support.

Chairman Josh Friedman said that, this year, the funds are being sent to two families who have recently fallen on hard times: the family of Haley Anderson and of Luis Mendez III.

Haley Anderson, 22, of Westbury, was a nursing student at Binghamton University and Clarke alumna who was found dead on March 9 in her off-campus apartment. After an autopsy was conducted, police ruled her death as a homicide.

She was known among friends and family for her positive energy, infectious laughter and care for others. Her family set up a gofundme in the wake of her death.

Luis Mendez III, 4, of Wantagh, suffers from Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Gliomas, a cancerous and highly aggressive brain tumor, with which he was diagnosed in August.

“He complained about a headache — he’s never complained before,” said his father Luis Mendez Jr., describing his son’s symptom’s in August as compared to a month later, when Luis woke up unable to see or walk out of his bed.

Mendez, a corrections officer at the Nassau County jail and a Clarke alumnus, said that he sought treatment for his son’s rare disorder in Mexico — a common practice for those suffering from DIPG. Starting on Sept. 11, Luis went through 30 rounds of radiation and just came back from his sixth trip.

“If you saw him now you wouldn’t think anything’s wrong with him,” Mendez said, adding, however, that he has a long road to recovery as less than one percent of those diagnosed with DIPG survive five years after their diagnosis.

Furthermore, because it is so rare, Mendez must pay all expenses for treatment out of pocket. He said that he is grateful to the W.T. Clarke community for including him as a beneficiary of Run with the Rams.

 Mendez added that his son’s spirits are up and that he has his own Facebook page called Lionheart Lou to promote awareness and positivity amid his disorder.