In the United States, cancer rates are increasing, especially among young people. This steady incline has resulted in the majority of Americans knowing someone in their family who has had cancer. Junior Margaret Brouse, with inspiration from a friend, identified this poignant issue and decided to create the CARE Club branch in response.
“At the beginning of the school year, a friend from Hollidaysburg reached out to me saying he was trying to start a branch of CARE club at their high school, but in order for him to be able to gain the regional status he needed someone from a nearby school to create one as well,” Brouse said. “He explained what it was and asked if I would be willing to create one here, and I thought it sounded great so I agreed.”
On Nov. 12, the school district board approved a motion to make the CARE Club official at the high school. Although this motion was approved swiftly, it took effort on behalf of Brouse and teacher advisers Jessica Hogan and Thomas Palfey.
“In order to make it a reality, I had to meet with my grade level principal. After she decided she thought it sounded like something that would be good for our school, I then had to find volunteer club administrators and then create bylaws,” Brouse said. “I had another meeting reviewing the bylaws and general club idea with the principals, and after that sought school board approval.”
According to one of the club advisers, Hogan, the main goal of the club is to help people dealing with cancer with support, research and increased education.
“CARE is a national organization and stands for Cancer Awareness Research and Education. This club is all about supporting people with cancer, supporting research for cancer,” Hogan said. “Maggie approached us about wanting to start this CARE club, Mr. Palfey and I were happy to help her. We gave her some ideas for coming up with bylaws for the school board meeting, but she has pretty much done it all,”
The club plans to achieve these goals by having meetings and by posting information on the Google Classroom.
“I am hoping to soon get announcements out and organize the first meeting, so students just need to pay attention to the announcements in order to receive the information to join,” Brouse said.
For Brouse, this cause is personal as she has friends and family members who have gone through cancer.
“Part of why I decided to make CARE a reality at Altoona was because I have had many close family members and friends deal with cancer, so anything beneficial towards spreading hope or awareness has always been special to me,” Brouse said.
For many across the school, this club is also personal.
“My grandpa passed away when I was very young from cancer. I knew him as Pap and my Grandma died a few years later,” senior Blaze Esworthy said. “Cancer awareness should be a thing because it happens often and there are things you can do to prevent it.”
Similarly, junior Eric Weyent realizes the need for cancer awareness.
“My grandfather has had a big impact on my life. He would always show up when my mom couldn’t. He had stage four lung cancer and dealt with it for three and a half years before dying March 18 of 2020,”Weyent said. “One thing that my grandfather did was smoking, so if people know the ways to prevent cancer, it could reduce the risk of people getting it.”
Last year, biology teacher Heather Partch was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkins lymphoma. Her battle has given her a great appreciation for this club.
“This club sounds great, because fighting cancer isn’t just a physical fight, it’s an emotional fight, having a support system makes that fight, whether it’s for you or in your family,” Partch said.
As of now the club has not set a date for their first meeting, but an announcement will be made on the morning and email announcements, as well as on the club’s Instagram page:@altoonacare.
