Relay raises $16,000 at cancer fundraiser

FOUR Surf Coast Secondary College students have led the charge in raising more than $16,000 for the Cancer Council through a community Relay for Life fundraiser.

Surf Coast Secondary College students Nash Cox, Riley Cotter, Shinay Grobler and Lily Jarman laced up their runners for the weekend’s fundraiser, which is back for the first time since the pandemic, to continue helping cancer victims and their families Australia-wide.

 

 

The 20 hours of movement kicked off on Friday evening with a special opening ceremony and thank you, which was followed by a cancer survivors lap before the official marathon begun.

While originally setting out to achieve a goal of $3,000, the quartet were absolutely shocked to raise five times more than their goal thanks to the support of event sponsors and locals in the community.

 

 

“It was definitely a lot of work, but we are very proud of ourselves, considering the amount of effort and time we put into it,” Year 10 student Nash Cox said.

“We got over five times our original goal and it really showed the community’s support of young kids… it gives us a lot of hope of what we can do in the future.

“We had around $8,000 donated from our sponsors… and amazingly another $8,500 was from people signing up and connecting with their friends and family.”

Surf Coast Secondary College principal Erin Wright lauded her students for their tireless work and commitment to “giving back to the community”.

 

 

“These four students are amazing leaders for our future… it really warms my heart that we are in such wonderful hands with the young people we have in our community.”

Nash and the Surf Coast Secondary College team expressed that everyone is touched by cancer in many different ways and cited that as a contributing factor to the success of the fundraiser.

“It’s definitely something that has touched the four of us… when we brainstormed it… everyone knew someone that had been diagnosed or affected by cancer.

“It worked out that this cause was something that could benefit the whole community.”

 

 

The Year 10 students hope to mentor and inspire younger kids to do what they have done in the future, suggesting it could be something that could be passed down to students.

“It was a really great project to make us learn how to work in teams, how to work with the community and how to branch out and sound more professional overall.

“To hand this onto some more Year 9 or Year 8 students would be beneficial for the community and the school.”

The Year 10 student team thanks the Liuzzi family ($5,000 donation) Torquay Community Enterprise, Quiksilver, Rip Curl, Surf Coast Times, MCG Signs, McCartney Estate, Torquay Lions Club and the Rotary Club of Torquay for their support.

They also extend their gratitude to teacher Georgina Sheens, Peter Raidme and principal Erin Wright for their commitment to assisting with the cause.