During Thursday’s break, the Cancer Awareness Club (CAC) invited the Upper Division (UD) community to reflect on World Cancer Day. The club honored cancer victims by distributing blue and orange stickers, pins, and candies. World Cancer Day, an internationally-celebrated  date, is dedicated to raising cancer awareness and supporting the fight against cancer, Rebecca Rosenzweig (12), one of the leaders of the CAC, said.

Additionally, after school, the CAC hosted an I period meeting, where the attendees wrote letters to cancer patients who cannot see visitors on a regular basis anymore due to the pandemic. 

During the pandemic, patients have seen a strong decrease in their interactions with the outside world, an issue the CAC hopes to address with their celebration of World Cancer Day, Rosenzweig said.

In a normal year, World Cancer Day is not one of the club’s biggest events, Rosenzweig said. Relay for Life and Cycle for Survival typically attract greater crowds and more attention towards the fight against cancer. However, due to the pandemic, donations for those two events are not being accepted this year, making Thursday’s celebration of World Cancer Day even more important, she said.

“As the CAC, what we try to do goes a step beyond just telling people what cancer is and what it means,” Rosenzweig said. “Everybody knows what cancer is, but not everyone knows how they can get involved, which is really easy.”

“The CAC puts on events that are meant to be both opportunities to learn about issues related to cancer, but they also do a really good job bringing the community together for such an important cause,” Dean of the Class of 2024 Stephanie Feigin said.

CAC members have taken the initiative in planning Thursday’s event, CAC faculty advisor Dr. Susan Delanty said. The club’s leaders ordered all supplies necessary for the event. 

However, the snow day on Monday and other scheduling changes posed an issue to planning the event, Rosenzweig said.

“The biggest problem has been the snow, since mail and deliveries have been slowed down,” Rosenzweig said. “There have been some COVID-19 cases in the school, and a lot of people who are really essential to our club have been placed in quarantine.”

After the event, the club sent out resources to the UD to inform the community of different types of cancers and to provide the school with another opportunity to involve themselves in the fight against cancer or to donate to the cause.

“Students already know a decent amount about cancer and the fight against cancer, but not much on how to be active in that fight,” William Choi (9) said. The snacks and chocolates distributed during break reminded students that there are easy ways to participate in the fight, he said.

The day led Matteo Monti (9) to reflect on how he could contribute to the cause, he said. “The CAC’s event for World Cancer Day made me more aware about how important the fight against cancer is.”