Dear
North Shore
Community:
Congratulations seems too small a word to express the
excitement, joy and gratitude over the 7th Annual Relay For Life, so
let me start by saying this: Your Relay For Life has set the standard for what
a community can do when they come together in the fight against cancer.
Way back in January, we set a goal of raising $200,000 at
this year’s Relay For Life. At the time, it seemed, well, impossible. We
thought: “If we get close, it’ll be great!” After all, last year we raised $116,000
and our best Relay to date raised $150,000. But as the season went on, the
passion and commitment of our Relay-ers couldn’t be contained. I’m thrilled to
announce that we have reached our $200,000 goal, with more donations still
coming in every day! We sold more luminaria bags than ever, had a brand-new
survivor’s reception and launched a successful Relay Carnival for kids of all
ages.
All the superlatives aside, this year’s Relay was decidedly
bittersweet. Just days before Relay For Life, “Sweet” Nicholas Pedone, a Glen Head
Elementary school student
lost his battle with cancer. Even in their grief, this community came together,
to show the Pedones that we would continue to fight in Nicholas’ memory. Our 8
foot luminaria bag served as a memorial for Nicholas – and seeing the children
of this community write messages to Nicholas and his family was one of the most
moving things I’ve ever witnessed. The North Shore
community is strong, even in grief.
Thanks must be given to the many people who made this event
not only possible, but an enormous success. Thank you to Superintendent Dr. Ed
Melnick for his continued support of Relay For Life, as well as, North Shore
High School principal Albert
Cousins and our school liaison Julia Salat. We would be lost without the
tireless efforts of Jerry Boertzel and the entire facilities team, as well as,
our security detail. They, quite literally, keep our event moving. I’d also
like to thank Shelly Newman for getting all of our communications out to the
school-district with such precision.
To the teams and team captains who raised that $200,000, I
could never thank you enough for what you have done in the fight against cancer.
There are too many to name, but I’d like to congratulate Sea
Cliff Elementary
School for hosting North
Shore’s first-ever Relay Recess and North Shore
Middle School for their
incredible fundraising efforts. I also want to congratulate our Top 5 teams:
LiveStrong (Team Captains: Andrew Fierstein & Terry Glassman), Kids for a
Cure (Team Captains: Liz Falcone & Claire DiMaio), A Walk to Remember (Team
Captain: Elizabeth Koslow), The Purple Earlmonts (Team Captain: Joe Biundo) and
ThunderCats (Team Captain: Samantha Di Paola). In fact, Andrew and the entire
LiveStrong team has raised a truly unbelievable $80,000 this year – making them
not only the top Relay team in all of New York
and New Jersey,
but one of the top Relay teams in the nation!
Part of what makes the Relay For Life such a special event
is the involvement from the community at large.
Thank you to our incredible survivor speakers, North County Reform
Temple’s Rabbi Janet Liss and North Shore Middle School’s Assistant Principal,
Rachel Green; Our incredible performers who kept our event exciting through the
night: Our Survivor’s Reception entertainment Michela McDonagh and friends, Last
Resort, Signs & Symptoms, the Dr. Gerver-fronted < 3, Lisa Vetrone, Mac
Ayers & Marcella Tocco who performed a moving tribute to “Sweet” Nicholas
at the start of our Luminaria Ceremony. We couldn’t have been able to do it –
or hear it – without Peter Warzer, Darbey Liston and the entire Long Island
Video Enterprise team. Additionally, we’d like to thank Evan the Magician and
his mother Marlene for donating their time, energy and talent, Bloomin’
Balloons & Extravagant Realty for our beautiful balloon arch and A-Plus
Signs for all their hard work.
We also had countless volunteers help us out the day of the
Relay For Life at registration, the Girl Scout Troops 25 & 60 and many
others at luminaria, North Shore Key Club, North Shore High School Interact
Club and the annual Glen Head Kiwanis Club Barbeque. Our Survivor’s Reception
sponsors this year helped make the event incredibly special for our Relay’s
VIPs: Page One Restaurant, Downtown Café, Glen Cove Beverage, Glenwood Landing
Women’s Club, Patti Mataska of Yoga Solutions, Anne Marie Giambrone of Healing
Arts Massage Therapy and Angie Veloso-Minsky of Vivemas. Lastly, thank you to
Adrienne Daley for photographing the event, and capturing so many beautiful
memories.
This year, we an incredible showing from local businesses
who were generous enough to sponsor the Relay For Life. We thank our Nassau
County sponsors, North Shore-LIJ and Allied Pediatrics of New York, as well as,
our local sponsors Sorenson Lumber, Pibbs Industries, Glen Head Pharmacy, Gold
Coast Jewelers, Allstate Insurance – Brzozowski Agency, Edeline & Hy
Glassman, General Anesthesia Services, Rallye Acura, NRAD, Circle of Hope, Glen
Head Hardware, First National Bank of Long Island, Parisi & Leonick, LLP, The
Oak Room, Gem Craft Boutique & The Law Office of Richard Marc Gordon, Esq.
PC.
I want to thank and acknowledge the tireless efforts of our
dedicated committee. These are the people who have devoted
countless hours to put on the Relay For Life: Alicia & Ross Andrus, Annene
Guertin, David & Kerry Fiersein, Claire DiMaio, Liz Falcone, Ronnie Koslow,
Diane Hlavenka, Joe & Lorraine Biundo, Marc Biundo, Marissa Frank, Michele
Sabatino, Deborah Orgel Gordon, Terry
Glassman & Michelle Magrino.
Lastly, I want to send my congratulations and gratitude to
our two student chairs, Andrew Fierstein and Elizabeth Koslow. Not only were
both of these remarkable high school seniors our Top 2 fundraisers, but they
worked with the committee to make this year’s Relay the $200,000 reality it
was. We were behind them every step of the way because of Andrew’s continued
battle against cancer, and Elizabeth’s
commitment to make this cancer’s last century. They inspired me every single
day.
But mostly, I’d like to thank each and every one of you who
read this, who attended Relay and who donated to support the American Cancer
Society. This year, more than any other, our event opened its doors as we
welcomed more members of our neighboring community, Glen
Cove, and for the first time, Locust Valley.
Without each and every one of you, without the deafening support of this
community, we’d just be out on a field in the middle of the night. Because of
you we Relay. And because of you, we will finish this fight.
Thank you from the bottom of my Relay-ing heart,
Eddie Mouradian,
Sr. Director, Relay For Life – Metro NY
