South Side students, Rockville Centre community ready for Relay For Life

South Side High School is almost set to host its first-ever Relay for Life, as students and community members put the finishing touches on preparations and ramp up fundraising ahead of Saturday’s event, which will benefit the American Cancer Society.

“I’m very fortunate to have a mother today,” said senior Angela Sourial, who was inspired to bring the event to South Side after her mother, Naoko, was diagnosed with colon cancer about four years ago. Sourial began attending Relay for Life events at Molloy College and in Lynbrook with her mother, who is now cancer-free, and grew determined to bring it to South Side. Last spring, she stepped up to the lectern during a Board of Education meeting to advocate for the cause.

“I was just so overwhelmed with joy and gratitude,” Naoko said of the board’s unanimous approval to host the event. “I cried,” she added, laughing. “I was so happy.”

Each year, more than 5,000 Relay for Life events — organized by the American Cancer Society, in conjunction with local communities — take place in 27 countries, and benefit initiatives to fight cancer, according to ACS’s website. 

Along with Sourial, members of South Side High School’s Cancer Awareness Club, along with their faculty adviser, Meghan O’Brien, have helped prepare for the six-hour gathering for more than a year.

The event will run from 5 to 11 p.m. at the high school track. A dinner for survivors, catered by the American Culinary Federation, will be held at 4 p.m. It will feature a Survivors Lap, where those who have beaten cancer go around the track.

“The survivor ceremonies are so emotional,” Sourial noted, “and to see that happening in my community, I’m so excited for that.”

There will also be a Caregivers Lap for those who have stood beside their friends and loved ones during the fight against the disease.

“The idea is that someone should be walking the track at all times, like an actual relay,” said senior Sofia Harrison, treasurer of the Cancer Awareness Club, whose 5-year-old cousin beat cancer. “It’s to support the slogan that cancer doesn’t sleep, so neither do we.”

The evening will have a carnival-type atmosphere, Harrison added, and will include a face-painter, a disc jockey, raffles and performances by South Side’s cheer team and music honor society. Yoga will also be offered in conjunction with Relay for Life’s traditional luminaria ceremony, which involves illuminating paper lanterns and dedicating them to those who have been diagnosed. A closing celebratory ceremony will last until 11 p.m.

“It’s a perfect time of the year for both the solemnity of the event and the celebration of life,” said South Side High School Principal John Murphy, who recalled Sourial coming to him with the idea to host the event more than a year ago. “We’re just really looking forward to it.”

Cancer Awareness Club President Giulia Pugliese’s grandmother and aunt died of cancer, and her mother is a cancer survivor. Passionate about making the event a success, she said the hardest part was spreading the word, adding that many people in the community, especially business owners, weren’t familiar with Relay for Life.

Still, she said, more than 200 people have registered to attend online, and she expects more to turn out unannounced. On Thursday, more than $36,000 had been raised, and organizers hoped to continue closing in on their $60,000 goal.

“Literally every hour I look and see how it’s doing,” Pugliese said, laughing, adding on Tuesday morning that about $1,000 had recently been coming in each day.

Though most of the fundraising has been done online, South Side students and team captains put coin cans in establishments around the community. “It definitely does add up,” Sourial said.

Student organizers visited South Side Middle School last week to tell their younger peers about the event, and Pugliese said that an informational flier was being sent home with all the district’s elementary school students. Principal Darren Raymar, she added, whose online team had accrued nearly $2,300 as of Thursday afternoon, was especially supportive of the cause.

“It’s one of those things that everyone, unfortunately, has someone they know or someone in their families that will have cancer,” Raymar said. He added that he looked forward to seeing Covert students attending and enjoying the family-friendly event.

Naoko plans to attend, as does Harrison’s young cousin and Pugliese’s mother.

“The event is for them, to show that we support them in every way and support everything they’ve gone through,” Pugliese said. “To see the survivors here taking that lap is honestly going to mean the world to me, because that’s why I’ve put in all the work. . . . It’s to celebrate them.”

Those who wish to donate to a team, or form a team, can visit www.relayforlife.org/rockvillecentreny.