School joins fight to prevent cancer
Hand in hand, Leeann Fleischauer and Megan Murphy walked with purpose and conviction on a makeshift path marked by luminarias in the commons area of Euchee Creek Elementary School on Friday.
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Cancer survivors Leeann Fleischauer, a second-grade teacher at Euchee Creek Elementary, and Megan Murphy, a fifth-grader, participated in the school's Relay for Life fund raiser for the American Cancer Society. Both were happy to see so many people helping to raise money.
Photo by Jim Blaylock
Both survivors of cancer, Fleischauer, a teacher, and Megan, a pupil, joined hundreds of faculty and pupils at Euchee Creek Elementary in their mini Relay for Life walk as a fund raiser for the American Cancer Society.
"Our school has always been good about contributing to charities," said Fleischauer, a second-grade teacher whose Hodgkin's disease is in remission.
"Obviously, this is something that is very important to me, and to be around so many people that want to help is a great feeling. We had one student who broke open her piggy bank and donated everything she had for this."
The mini relay was a prelude to the larger Relay for Life event at Harlem Middle School on April 22. Teams from around the area have formed to seek donations for walking on the middle school's oval track. Many teams, such as Euchee Creek Elementary's, are holding separate fund raisers for the event.
Through Friday's mini relay, and other events, the school has raised more than $4,100. The mini relay contributed $1,403.68 to that total.
"I'm really glad that so many people want to fight cancer," said Megan, who was diagnosed at 2 years old with rhabdomyosarcoma, a malignant soft-tissue tumor found in children.
Euchee Creek Elementary pre-K pupils A.J. Fontenot (left) and Jacob Walton lead their class in the Relay for Life march to raise money for the American Cancer Society. The school has held several events to raise money before the community Relay For Life event to be held at Harlem Middle School on April 22.
Photo by Jim Blaylock
Now in remission, Megan, a 10-year-old fifth-grader, happily participates in whatever events she can to keep others from suffering the way she did.
"This is fun, because it's nice to see so many people who really care," she said.