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Overcast Lynbrook fundraiser was 'Simply 4 Mary'
Our Lady of Peace rallies around fifth-grade with cancer
When Mary DePinto, 11, a fifth-grader at Our Lady of Peace School in Lynbrook, was diagnosed with Ewing’s sarcoma, a cancerous tumor that grows in the bones or the soft tissue near bones, students and their parents as well as teachers at the Catholic school didn’t hesitate to lend a helping hand.
Mary, a Valley Stream resident, was diagnosed with the disease in March, and has undergone surgery as well as treatments that include a combination of chemotherapy and radiation at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. While she is being treated, she lives at the Ronald McDonald House near the hospital.
OLP held its annual Walk-A-Thon on May 30 in her honor, calling it “Simply 4 Mary.” Students in kindergarten through eighth grade took part, raising $5,000 for the DePinto family and the Ronald McDonald House. Students who raised $10 or more received green bracelets inscribed with “Simply 4 Mary.”
“She has really handled it well under the circumstances,” said Mary’s mother, Terri DePinto, “and it’s just amazing how strong she’s been during the weeks she’s had chemo.”
Both Mary and her mom attended the Walk-A-Thon. Students walked to Lynbrook North Middle School and ran four laps around the track, and Mary gave high-fives to her fifth-grade classmates as they ran by.
“The children are very caring,” said Karen VonBraunsberg, an OLP teacher. “They’re praying for Mary, and I think that’s helping her through it. She’s very positive, she has a wonderful outlook, she has support from her family and she has support from her school, which is her family as well.”
“She’s an inspiration,” said Julie O’Connell, a parent of two students at OLP. “At a point at which something like this could take the smile off your face and get you down in the dumps, she’s inspiring in the way she’s tackled this, and it gives me chills. I really admire her strength and her family’s strength.”
