“Someday is today,” for Davis High sophomores
By Hanah Wyman,
BlueDevilHUB.com Staff–
When sophomore Avery Warhover found out that her step-sister had Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, she knew she had to do something.
Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma is characterized as a “cancer that starts in cells called lymphocytes, which are part of the body’s immune system,” according to the American Cancer Society.
“It ended her volleyball career, it was just really hard for her, obviously. That just kind of opened my eyes up to the tolls that cancer takes on not only the patients, but their families,” Warhover said.
So, two years after her sister had been diagnosed, Warhover gathered up a group of fellow sophomores and started a campaign to raise money for the cause that is so close to her heart.
Warhover and her co-captain Carina Fettinger lead their Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) campaign team, called CancerVive, in raising money for LLS and participating in community activities, as well as a chance to win LLS Student of the Year.
Fettinger says that she was eager to join when she heard about the cause from Warhover, and the team is already capitalizing on its opportunities.
“I’ve learned so much about working with people and how much you can do in the community and I think that even if we weren’t to win, I technically won to myself because it’s such a great cause to help find a cure,” Fettinger said.
The team has an Instagram page where they share photos of their progress throughout the campaign. In one of the most recent photos the caption shared: “Every three minutes, someone in the U.S. is diagnosed with blood cancer.”
“LLS’s motto is ‘Someday is today’, and I think that’s true, like we can be the generation to stop cancer,” Fettinger said.
In addition to Warhover and Fettinger, twelve girls from Davis and Dixon have joined the CancerVive team: Maya Doms, Kelsey Calhoun, Paige Rubenstein, Megan Eisenman, Alana Curtis, Claire Duisenberg, Makena Wahl, Madi Katzenmeyer, Claire Williams, Rachel Stenz, Grace Bosco and Lily Heilmann.
Most recently, the girls held a fundraiser and auction with “live music, food and drinks, all good stuff” with Stella and Dot, a jewelry company.
The girls are also selling blue and white Blue Devil keychains for $3, also for LLS.
The Students of the Year campaign includes 10 teams in the greater Sacramento area who are competing. The campaign is seven weeks and it goes until April 7. “We’re basically just raising as much money as we can,” Warhover said.
