Students spread hope with fundraisers
Published: October 1, 2005
Alicia Garfinkel and Brittany Miller wasted no time raising funds for cancer treatment when a friend was diagnosed with leukemia.
The New Rochelle 15-year-olds formed an organization called Operation Be Hopeful within days and ordered orange shirts to sell with “Be Hopeful” on the front.
“It was like an immediate reaction,” Garfinkel said. Having gotten the bad news late one week, she said, “by Sunday, we knew we were doing something.”
They didn’t wait for the shirts to arrive. While the merchandise was on the way, they sold bracelets that Miller made by braiding orange string.
“We felt like we needed to help,” Garfinkel said.
Their drive quickly blossomed, bringing in thousands of dollars.
The friends, sophomores at New Rochelle High School, led the effort with a determination that has garnered praise and admiration from many, including a commendation from the New Rochelle City Council in September. But perhaps most grateful for their effort is Sarah Scheinfeld, the friend who was diagnosed with leukemia in March. It was a desire to support her that sparked Garfinkel and Miller’s work. She has known Garfinkel for seven years and Miller for five.
“I think that what they’re doing is awesome, and I really appreciate it,” said Scheinfeld, 15. “It’s so vital for all the patients and kids that are fighting cancer.”
Taking various approaches to raising funds, they most recently began a separate school club, called Hope From the Heart, two weeks ago.
“Their enthusiasm is unbelievably contagious,” said Cathy Comerford, an English teacher who is Hope From the Heart’s faculty adviser. Recalling when their efforts began, she said; “All of a sudden there was just a flood of orange T-shirts throughout the school. It was heartwarming to see.”
As of Friday, they had raised a total of $13,000 through Operation Be Hopeful, Garfinkel said. All of that goes to the Hope & Heroes Children’s Cancer Fund, which benefits the Herbert Irving Child & Adolescent Oncology Center, where Scheinfeld is being treated. The center, in upper Manhattan, is part of Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital of NewYork-Presbyterian and the Columbia University Medical Center.
The Hope From the Heart group will take a different approach, choosing a different cancer research or treatment organization to benefit each month.
For Operation Be Hopeful, Garfinkel and Miller have added rubber awareness bracelets, water bottles, car magnets and pins to the list of merchandise available. The items are orange — a color sometimes associated with leukemia awareness — and have the word “hope” on them in some form.
With school back in session, they are hoping to pick up the pace again.
“We’re still coming out with new things to make,” Miller said.
They have given to the cause in various ways. They cut their hair and sent it to Locks of Love, which provides hair pieces to children who lose their hair due to illnesses. They both took part in an American Cancer Society Relay for Life in June, never resting overnight as they rounded the track at New Rochelle High School.
“We were very sore,” Miller said.
Their school club has attracted several students. Thirty of them attended a meeting last Thursday, including Leah Sininsky, 15, a sophomore, who reported that she had walked a marathon in San Francisco with her mother a week ago to benefit the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.
“It was really rewarding,” she said. “I was in a lot of pain, but it was good.”
Heather Maloney, executive director of the Hope & Heroes fund, said she was impressed from the moment Garfinkel called asking how she could help. An increasing number of school groups are donating to the fund, she said. But in her year and a half there, among others who are Garfinkel and Miller’s age, she said, “no one has done what they have.”
For one project, they gathered some 50 toys and other gifts that they delivered to patients at the center. Sheinfeld was there when the patients received the gifts.
“It was really cool,” she said.
She plans to get involved with Operation Be Hopeful and Hope For the Heart when she is able.
“When I’m better, I definitely want to help,” she said.
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