Laura Sciortino has felt the pain from losing a loved one to cancer. The second-year Weehawken technology teacher’s grandmother died from breast cancer at the age of 42, leaving behind seven children. Her sister survived a battle with cancer after giving birth to a baby. She was only 33. “I’ve had so many friends and family members of friends that have been diagnosed with breast cancer,” Sciortino said. “The numbers are amazing.”
The actual national statistics are mind boggling. Breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths for women between the ages of 40 and 59. Every three minutes, a woman is diagnosed with breast cancer. Every 13 minutes, a woman dies from the disease. Every year, 182,800 women nationwide are diagnosed with breast cancer and 40,800 die. Just frightening statistics.
While she was attending a class at Montclair State University, a classmate of Sciortino’s mentioned that her school was participating in a program to help raise money for breast cancer research.
As part of National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Lee National Denim Day was a day set aside in October for people to wear some sort of denim jeans to work in exchange for a $5 donation to the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. Companies from across the nation allowed their employees to wear the denim to work to help raise money in an effort to eradicate breast cancer as a life-threatening disease.
The efforts of the Lee National Denim Day have raised $16.5 million nationwide in the four years of the program. Last year, the project raised $5.8 million in the single day.
The Susan G. Komen Foundation was established in 1982 by Nancy Brinker in memory of her 36-year-old sister, who died of breast cancer that year. Since that time, the Foundation has volunteers in local affiliates across the country working to find a cure through advanced research, education, proper screening and treatment. The popular “Race For the Cure,” road race is part of the program.
However, the national day was Oct. 6, so any effort Sciortino would do at her place of business, namely Weehawken High School, would sort of be after the fact.
“But I approached some members of the faculty with the idea and they were all very supportive,” Sciortino said. “We have a large female faculty and they were very interested. Everyone’s life has been touched with someone who has had breast cancer, one way or another. Everyone seems to know someone who has had it. Thankfully, so much can be done now. Lives can be saved.”
Mary Bea Kingwill, a long-time teacher at the school, steered Sciortino in the right path. She then received permission from Superintendent of Schools Kevin McLellan and Principal Peter Olivieri to hold the day at the high school.
“Everyone was all for it,” Kingwill said. “As soon as they heard of what Laura was doing, they were all saying, ‘Count me in, count me in.’ The support was tremendous.”
Last Tuesday, the faculty had its designated denim jeans day to help raise money.
“We had 100 percent cooperation from the faculty,” Sciortino said. “We raised $300. It felt good that we were able to raise so much.”
Kingwill agreed.
“I think we have a terrific camaraderie in this school,” Kingwill said. “People were just willing to do it. It’s the first time we’ve ever done anything like this and it just took right off. It was a great idea to have a dress-down day for the teachers and it all went to a good cause.”
The day went so well that both Kingwill and Sciortino are in negotiations to have similar days to raise money more often.
“Either monthly or bi-monthly,” Kingwill said. “We’ll see what happens. But we would be happy to keep it going.”
There have also been talks to somehow get the students of the school involved in the fund raising, but then again, they seem to dress down – and down – every day.
“Maybe for them, we can have a dress-up day,” Kingwill added. “That’s somewhere down the road.” Sciortino didn’t want to be considered as a hero for organizing the effort.
“Quite frankly, the real heroes are the Susan G. Komen Foundation and the Lee Jeans people,” Sciortino said. “We were just a little part.”
A little part that will go a long way to finally finding a cure.