With less than a month to go before the North Whidbey Relay for Life, teams are in full-fledged fundraising mode. In 2010 the event raised nearly $217,000 for the American Cancer Society, and this year coordinators hope to collect even more.
Two Coupeville seventh-graders, Anna King and McKenzie Rice, are up to the challenge and eager to contribute.
Besides the title of best friends, Anna and McKenzie share similar hobbies and busy schedules. Both girls participate in track, volleyball, drama and band. Anna plays clarinet, drums and bass while McKenzie has taken on the saxophone, flute and electric guitar.
So it comes as no surprise that when ClickMusic employee Avi Rosstov asked Anna to serve as the captain for ClickMusic’s Click for Cure Relay for Life team, she was happy to take on a new project. The girls both take music lessons at Click, and Anna quickly roped McKenzie into the effort giving her the role of co-captain.
Though Anna has walked in the relay before to support friends, she’s never been an official participant, and neither has McKenzie, making the venture a new experience.
“It’s a lot of work for two young girls to do this,” Sandra King, Anna’s mother, said.
“I think they’re just now starting to realize how much work it is,” McKenzie’s mother, Chrissy Rice, added.
The girls have 10 members total on their team ranging in age from 12 to 30 and hope to raise at least $1,000. They plan to host two Saturday bake sales this month from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on May 14 and 21 outside of Kmart in Oak Harbor to raise money. They’re also participating in a soap-selling fundraiser through Port Townsend-based Pacific Northwest Soap. People can go to the company’s website and order products and a portion of the proceeds will go towards the girls’ total.
Sandra King said she thinks their family’s personal dealings with cancer have made a powerful impact on Anna. King’s mother suffered with breast cancer and her father with prostate cancer. Additionally, King said a 5-month-old family friend passed away from the terrible disease.
“It’s my chance to give back,” Anna said. “I don’t want anyone else to go through the pain and suffering I went through when I lost my friends.”
On the other hand, Chrissy Rice said McKenzie has simply been looking for a cause and has wanted to get involved with a volunteer organization.
On the day of the event, the girls plan to sell music-related goodies for donations while sporting matching purple tutus.
“It feels good to help out,” McKenzie said.
According to relay coordinator April Wilder, McKenzie is the youngest captain who’s been registered in the past couple of years.
As of Monday, 106 teams had signed up for the North Whidbey Relay for life and nearly $74,000 had been raised according to the American Cancer Society’s website. The event will be held at 6 p.m. on Friday, June 3, at North Whidbey Middle School’s track and will last through Saturday, June 4. For more information on the event, to donate or sign up, visit http://main.acsevents.org/site/TR?pg=entry&fr_id=34067.
