CEC students gather for Relay for Life at the Truro school
TRURO, NS — The back of her bright yellow Relay for life The T-shirt said “Survivor,” but Buffie Hanes thinks the more accurate word would be “Fighter.”
“My son says I’m a fighter… and God has too many stubborn people out there already, so they keep me on earth,” Hanes said with a wry smile, as she walked the path that circles the Cobequid Educational Center (CEC) field while students, including Hanes’ son Ryan, a Grade 11 student, participated in fun activities on the grass.
It was all part of it CEC students organize Relay for Life for the Canadian Cancer Society on Friday (June 16) in the afternoon and early evening.
Hanes, who has been battling cancer since she was a teenager, has seen it writhe through her body.
“My kidney, cervix, uterus, ovaries, my chest, bones, and now I have a rare disease called sarcoidosis,” she said, her energy and enthusiasm on the day showing how much of a fighter she is. “Now cancer and sarcoidosis have been a buddy through my body, so I have both in my spine, nervous system, heart, and now I found out I have it in my blood.”
She said it was an “honor” to join the other survivors at the event and be asked to participate – something Ryan told her.
“He’s here in the life skills program and he’s been my biggest supporter,” said Hanes. “He said CEC is doing a fundraiser, so he said, ‘Mom, I want to raise money for your cure.’ He raised $380, so he’s pretty excited.
“It means a lot that all these kids are a great support here. You know, it’s a journey and it takes a lot of people to help you through that journey… it’s nice to know that these kids are here for my kid and all these ladies kids.
One of the other ladies was CEC teacher Kate Adams, who recently finished chemotherapy treatments after surgery in February, who said it was strange to be on the other side of an event at school; usually she supervised and helped the students organize.
“What was surreal for me today was the fact that I experienced the event from a completely different perspective,” said Adams, who reached out to Truro News at the end. “Instead of bringing my students to the event and cheering on the survivors, I was now the survivor being cheered on. It shows that cancer can happen to anyone at any time in their life.
“I participated in the Ride for Cancer in Halifax in the past, but now appreciate such events, and this Relay for Life, so much more. Every dollar counts towards helping people affected by cancer. The CEC community has done an amazing job today raising money and awareness…I am so proud of them.”
The teachers who assisted the students that day were Marc Roberts, who teaches a leadership class at the school, and Hilary Cormier, who took over as the lead. IB CAS (International Baccalaureate – Creativity, Activity, Service) program.
“It’s going great, we’re really happy with the turnout and the atmosphere,” Cormier said, adding that they came close to their $20,000 goal (the event had raised just over $15,485 by Wednesday night).
Originally scheduled for Wednesday, with heavy rain predicted for the day – and the forecast is accurate – Cormier said they were glad they made the decision to move it to Friday, where they let some warm sunshine shine on them during the event. 2 p.m. to 8 p.m.
“It was nerve wracking making the move because there were a lot of moving parts, but once we decided we went for it and the sky has cleared up and it’s beautiful,” Cormier said.
“I attended a Relay race before growing up, but this is the first one I helped organize. I took over the IB CAS program this year and had some students interested in running this event, so I told them I would help and be an advisor.
“And when we talked to Marc Roberts, he has his first leadership class this semester, we decided we could do it together as a team, and he was great. His class took charge of much of the set up and execution of the day’s events, which involved hours of work throughout the day. My class took care of the organization; decided what we were going to do and the fundraising aspect of it…so it was a big team effort.
One of the IB students willing to take it on was co-chair of the event, Nhu Y Pham.
“It just seemed like a really good cause and this year I just wanted to get more active in the community and I thought this was a perfect opportunity to do that,” Pham said.
She paid tribute to her co-chair Sappho Thompson, who came in with the experience of attending last year’s CEC Relay for Life event.
“But she wasn’t on the committee, none of us,” said the 11th grade student. “So we hope we can do it by next year and then pass it on to the next IB classes. We could have one-on-one with the students who are about to take over so that they know a little bit more about it than we do.
“It’s really the last big event before prom and graduation… and it’s going great.”
