Media contact: Brianna Hoge
Over the past five years, Vestavia Hills High School students raised $1,044,966 to benefit the UAB Adolescent and Young Adult Oncology and Oncofertility Program.
Photography: Steve WoodStudents from Vestavia Hills High School recently raised $230,023 for the O’Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center at UAB, a sum that caps five years of Vestavia Hills student fundraising totaling $1,044,966 to benefit UAB’s Adolescent and Young Adult Oncology and Oncofertility Program.
The donation was raised through the efforts of the high school’s RISE program. RISE, which stands for Rebels Impact through Service and Engagement, is a semester-long service-learning project that encourages high school students to develop leadership skills by organizing and participating in community fundraising events, such as this year’s Rebel Run 5K and fun run, a Sadie Hawkins dance, a holiday concert performed by the Alabama Symphony Orchestra, and other special events led by students for the community.
“We are so grateful to the Vestavia Hills High School students and the teachers and families who helped them achieve their truly remarkable goals,” said Barry Sleckman, M.D., director of the O’Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center. “These students care deeply about the impact that cancer research has on the lives of their peers and the future of cancer treatment for other young adults. To raise more than $1 million over the course of five years — this is an outstanding achievement, and we thank these students wholeheartedly.”
The Adolescent and Young Adult Oncology and Oncofertility Program is housed within the Institute for Cancer Outcomes and Survivorship and targets cancer patients who are diagnosed between the ages of 15 and 39 years old. The AYA Oncology and Oncofertility Program was established in 2018 to address the unique needs of this age group, such as fertility preservation, health insurance and financial counseling, clinical trial enrollment, psychosocial support, and transition to survivorship.
“They really get it,” said Julie Anna Wolfson, M.D., director of the AYA Oncology and Oncofertility Program and a scientist at the O’Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center. “These students are so impressive in terms of their motivation, organization and will to accomplish. Our adolescent and young adult program wouldn’t exist without them.”