Four schools raise $3,800 for Poland Relay for Life
By Denise Dick
POLAND — About 60 administrators, staff and teachers from four Poland schools got an early start on a summer event.
They raised about $3,800 for the Poland Relay for Life conducted Friday afternoon at McKinley Elementary School.
A representative from the American Cancer Society called the schools and asked if they wanted to organize a team for the July 10-11 relay at Poland Seminary High School.
“It’s kind of difficult with it being in the summer and most of our staff isn’t at school,” said Ed Kempers, McKinley principal,
So they organized a mini relay with personnel from McKinley, Dobbins and Union Elementary schools and the middle school.
Carmella Smallhoover, Union’s principal, said a flyer was distributed to teachers and staff asking them to participate and 15 signed up from her school.
About 15 teachers and staff from Dobbins signed up too, said Principal Cheryl Borovitcky.
Among the walkers were Jan Decker, secretary at the middle school, and Barbara Cooper, who works in the school board office.
Both of them lost their husbands to cancer which prompted their participation.
Laura Smith, intervention specialist at Dobbins, who walked alongside Decker and Cooper, is an eight-year breast cancer survivor. This marked the first relay event for all of them.
Alice Colella, a first grade teacher at Union, got involved because of how the disease has affected her life as well.
“My mother passed away of cancer and I have several friends whose family members are sick,” she said.
Bridgett Savage, income development coordinator for the Poland Relay event, said that other groups conduct mini-relays in advance of larger events, but what makes Poland’s unique is that it involved staff from four schools.
Volunteer Tammy McCollums coordinated the schools’ involvement. She knew most of the principals because her children attend district schools so it made it easy to ask them to participate.
“The goal for the Poland Relay is 25 teams and to raise $25,000,” Savage said.
Volunteer Lori Probst said 25 teams have already registered with more contemplating the idea.
“It’s possible we could surpass that goal,” Probst said.