Thank you to the North Shore Community!

Dear North Shore Community:

Congratulations seems too small a word to express the excitement, joy and gratitude over the 7^th 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