The Villager Newspaper Online Your Community News – Cleveland's Westshore
Bay Students Unite….
Carli Mendelow (orange bow) with friends and survivors Jane (left) and Claire.
When two friends of Bay High student Carli Mendelow began their personal battles with cancer, all Carli wanted to do was help.
The opportunity to engage in an overriding mission came to light when Carli decided to follow in the footsteps of another Bay student who was active with the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s “Student of the Year” campaign.
Carli and Team Overcome need your help. Read on in Carli’s own words:
Dear Westside Residents,
I am humbled and thrilled to announce that I am running as co-candidate for The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s (LLS), “Students of the Year” campaign alongside my good friend, Cooper Lyons. Students of the Year is a seven-week fundraising competition for high school students to raise funds in order to find a cure for blood cancers.
Carli (purple dress), Cooper Lyons (top, blue shirt) and Jane (green skirt) with members of last year’s team.
In 2020, our team of Bay High School students raised a record breaking $164,000, winning the campaign. This year’s competition started January 9th and will end on February 27th, 2021. Our team of 18 students, Team Overcome, is determined to reach and surpass our goal of $100,000 in hopes of shining a bright light into the dark world of blood cancer.
Every nine minutes, someone dies from blood cancer. Every three minutes, someone is diagnosed with blood cancer. Since 1964, The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society has helped find cures for blood cancers. Survival rates have been rising since the 1960 ‘s! LLS has invested more than $1 billion to advance cancer therapies and survival. Many LLS supported therapies not only help blood cancer patients, but are now approved to treat patients with rare forms of autoimmune diseases, and other forms of cancer!
In October of 2015, my good friend and Bay High School Student Jane Finley was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. I did not know Jane as well then as I do now, but once I heard the news, my heart dropped. Why do horrible things happen to amazing people? Because those amazing people will fight. She underwent treatment, and seemed to be making great progress. Then, Jane relapsed in July of 2016 but now has been cancer free for almost four years! Jane is my role model in Rockettes (Bay High School’s dance team), and a mentor for many LLS Student of the Year teams. In fact, Jane, who is now a freshman at Miami University, brought the Student of the Year campaign to Bay High School four years ago by herself, and won the competition. Jane inspires me every day to have courage, and to never give up.
Fast forward two years later, November 2017. My best friend, Claire, who is also close with Jane, was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. I remember Googling the definition and sobbing because I had no idea what it meant. My world shattered again. I watched Claire fade away into the darkness of cancer, and I had no idea how to stop it. This was a broken time in my life, but, thankfully, like Jane, she has an amazing will to win and beat cancer. She recovered in 2019 only to relapse in March of 2020. She has been in remission since July! She has had multiple surgeries and treatments that are rough on her in the moment, but she always finds the strength to keep going! She, like so many brave cancer victims, lives by Jim Valvano’s great motivational cancer speech at the 1993 ESPYs “Never give up…Don’t ever give up.” Claire graduated from BHS in 2020 and will soon be pursuing a career in nursing.
The whole idea of cancer being in a loved one’s life is so unfair. I could not imagine how my friends were feeling, or the fear of the unknown that loomed over their heads, day by day. I wanted to make a difference in their lives, and in the lives of others. I knew I had a mission to raise awareness and evoke change in the world of blood cancer research. Will you help me complete this mission? Please.
“Last year, we had the 4th annual “Light the Night” walk for those who have been affected by cancer in any way. This powerful event (participants hold luminaries and walk around the Bay High grounds) is extremely important to our school and community. It is so powerful because it gathers the community together to raise awareness for cancer. COVID-19 may have cancelled vacations and social events, like “Light the Night,” but cancer is NOT cancelled. Our work for cancer research is not postponed, or over. I believe that in these trying times, our community will come together. We must all be the light.”
Team Overcome is determined to continue to fight and push for a cure for Claire, Jane, and all the other people in the world who have to hear the words: “You have cancer.”
Last year, we had the 4th annual “Light the Night” walk for those who have been affected by cancer in any way. This powerful event (participants hold luminaries and walk around the Bay High grounds) is extremely important to our school and community. It is so powerful because it gathers the community together to raise awareness for cancer. COVID-19 may have cancelled vacations and social events, like “Light the Night,” but cancer is NOT cancelled. Our work for cancer research is not postponed, or over. I believe that in these trying times, our community will come together. We must all be the light. That is why I am reaching out to you, Bay Village, and all our friends and neighbors in our surrounding cities, to help us become the generation that defeats leukemia and lymphoma.
In the earlier photos of me with Jane and Claire, we are all wearing t-shirts that were sold for Light the Night. Be on the lookout for Team Overcome selling t-shirts and tumblers to support our cause!
We are currently at 14% of our goal. With your help, we can be the light, and the FIGHT.
If you would like to make an online donation please visit my website: https://events.lls.org/noh/nohSOY21/cmendelow.
If you wish to donate through the mail, please make your check payable to The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Please print our team name, “Team Overcome” in the memo section. Send to: Team Overcome- Bay High School, 29230 Wolf Road, Bay Village OH 44140. Your donations are tax-deductible. All donations, no matter the size, will help us in the fight against blood cancers.
Other ways to help:
- Corporate Sponsorships/Internal Events (Many businesses do a $250 program add that helps the cause and also provides high exposure for their business, or hold internal events to raise money for our cause.)
- Attend our events posted on @teamovercomebhs on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. Our Bomba event is on January 28th at Rocky River Bomba! (20% of proceeds from all sales go to Team Overcome and LLS.)
- Purchase a Super Bowl Square now through February 6th (half of the square price goes to fight cancer and half goes to the pot of payouts.) Contact carlimendy@gmail.com for more information.
- Purchase t-shirts and tumblers! Email carlimendy@gmail.com to purchase.
Donate tickets or items valued at $100 or more to auction off at our auction at Grand Finale (February 27th.) This can be vacations, sports tickets, show tickets, and more!
We appreciate anything you can do to help make a difference.
