Three clubs, three different events, many participating members, but one kindred goal: to raise awareness and support for cancer patients and research.
“We had so many clubs [created] for the same cause, so why not come together and make it a mass production,” East senior and Relay for Life senior chair Sophia Ford told Spark.
Ford joined Relay for Life her freshman year of high school because her sister was a participant and later became a senior chair. She continued to participate in the program every year to raise awareness about cancer and became a senior chair herself.
“I joined Dragonfly specifically because my childhood best friend passed away from cancer, and the dragonfly foundation actually helped her,” said Relay for Life senior chair and Dragonfly leader Bella Dixon. “It was part of her journey, especially when she was at [Cincinnati] Children’s downtown deep into her chemo treatment.”
Dixon has been one of the only members of the Dragonfly club for the last few years and hopes that with Hawks Against Cancer, they can help more people.
At the end of the 2023-24 school year, Relay for Life advisor and East Assistant Athletic Director John Mason pitched the idea of merging three different cancer-based clubs into one group in hopes of increased attendance, organized fundraising opportunities, and stronger club involvement.
“Towards the end of the year, I said, we have these three groups that are all doing the same thing,” Mason told Spark. “So why not make them one big group?”
Brave and Bold Kids (BBK), the Dragonfly Foundation, and Relay for Life will combine and operate together this school year under the umbrella club of Hawks Against Cancer, advised by Mason.
“We have big general meetings once a month and then they will do separate meetings as needed,” said Mason. “We’re not calling them different clubs now. Our only club is Hawks Against Cancer. We have committees within that club to deal with these large events.”
One of the committees, BBK Partners, operated under the name of Hawks Against Cancer last year. The club created baskets for nurses and hospital staff working on the front lines.
“You can have the philanthropic part of what Hawks Against Cancer [did last year] with all their baskets and things that they were doing,” said Mason. “Then those kids are in charge of Relay for Life, they’re in charge of Dragonfly, but we won’t have a separate group that is competing for the same kids.”
Ford and Dixon are the leaders of Relay for Life, Dixon is the head of Dragonfly, and Taylor Hill and Cami Bui are the heads of BBK Foundations.
“Mr. Mason brought the idea up to Bella and I just to let us know that things would be changing,” said Ford. “We had a meeting last year to combine, and then this year, we just kind of brought it into full swing.”
All three clubs met for an informational meeting in room 200 on Sept. 9. During the meeting, club leadership gave an overview of how the clubs would merge and the events that they would be organizing.
“Combining with the other groups will hopefully allow for people to stay engaged throughout the whole year,” said Bui. “I also think that having the extra support of four main presidents/leaders, rather than only having one or two, is going to allow us to be more productive with our goals as we get busier throughout the year.”
Dixon agrees and describes the importance of having people sign up for Relay as the event is based around team involvement. Relay for Life is an overnight event held on the football field every year. Teams of 10 walk around the field and participate in events planned by the entertainment committee.
“I think that numbers wise, Relay kind of has died down with involvement, so hopefully combining clubs gets us more people,” said Dixon.
Relay for Life was not the only club struggling in some way.
“It got to the point last year that, even with the same mission, we were almost competing against each other rather than working together, which did not really make sense anymore,” said Bui. “We were constantly having to work around each other in regard to meeting dates, and it even happened that we were each doing a fundraiser on the same day.”
This year is a trailblazing one for Hawks Against Cancer and the clubs will kick off the year with a new event, Crucial Catch, according to Mason.
“We are going to do a pink out, we are going to get some cancer awareness shirts made that were gonna sell and all of the proceeds are going to the American Cancer Society,” said Mason. The football game and cancer fundraiser happened on Oct. 11. Hawks Against Cancer leadership will be putting together raffle baskets and selling bracelets on the day of the event in order to raise money.
“So every dime that we raise for that game is immediately going to then be donated to the American Cancer Society,” said Mason.
The next Hawks Against Cancer event will be the Dragonfly game during boys basketball season.
