Westhampton Beach Cancer Survivor, Volleyball Team Member Helps Raise Funds for Classmate Battling Ewing Sarcoma

A Long Island competition has helped non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma survivor Sydney Anastasia win $3,000 to support Westhampton Beach High School classmate Richard Ramirez, a sophomore who is battling Ewing sarcoma, a cancer that most often occurs in and around the bones.

The funding was made possible thanks to the Hurricanes girls volleyball team earning first place in the Long Island Holiday Sports Heroes Challenge. The contest is put on by Team Up 4 Community, an international community giveback project of the W20 Foundation.

“After everything I went through, it’s great that I can finally give back,” said Anastasia, who was diagnosed with the lymphatic system cancer at age 9. “I know firsthand what kind of kids benefit from the money we raise, because it used to be me. Seeing the support for the fundraiser always feels amazing.”

The high school senior is part of a recently-created childhood cancer awareness club, the Golden ’Canes, which has raised more than $13,800 for multiple childhood cancer research and support charities. During a “digging for gold” fundraiser that occurred during a girls volleyball game last September, the Hurricanes raised $500 for Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center’s pediatrics department, MSK Kids.

Anastasia first enrolled the team in the Long Island challenge as a freshman, and has had the school and the Hurricanes participating every year since. The inaugural submission earned her volleyball team third place, so the now soon-to-be graduate said she’s thrilled to finally reach her goal of earning the top prize. The school’s Athletes Helping Athletes club is also always ready to help the community when needed. High school students who are involved work with seventh- and eighth-graders by visiting the middle school to discuss important topics like drugs, alcohol, cyberbullying, social media and vaping.

“Being a part of this challenge has been great for me, but I think even better for the school as a whole. People are coming out and supporting the cause now more than ever, and it’s wonderful to see,” Anastasia said. “We knew we could win if we got the whole school involved, so this year we really made a big push for it, and it paid off.”

Besides holding a fundraiser for the challenge, which, along with the W20 foundation, works to build character among athletes through the promotion and collaboration of community service and social responsibility, the team was required to create a page on the Team Up 4 Community website detailing the fundraising efforts, as well as create a video, which Anastasia made and posted to YouTube.

The video shows signs made for and highlights from the game and subsequent fundraiser this past fall, in which the varsity and junior varsity teams participated. The Hurricanes donned shirts highlighting their mission throughout the school day and during warm-ups, decorated the gym gold and sold bracelets, ribbons and baked goods in the lobby before, during and after the games. Gold bracelets are still being sold throughout the school year.

https://youtu.be/1E8qfd6vmJ0

“It is very heartwarming to be able to participate in this challenge,” said junior Charlotte Dermody, a varsity player who will be working to keep the team’s contributions going after Anastasia graduates. “Counting the money at the end of the game, we got to see how much of a difference we can make as a team.”

In total, 17,197 athletes performed over 36,494 hours of community service this year, with a total $381,580 being raised and given back to communities. Since the challenge began in 2014, 61,690 participants have donated 260,872 hours of their time, for time served valued at $2,053,708. To-date, $959,530 has been raised.

“The work our youth athletes, teams, schools and organizations are doing to make a difference in the lives of others is commendable,” Team Up 4 Community said in a statement. “By showcasing this great work together, we are assisting in inspiring others to give back and make a difference in their communities.”

But Anastasia has been making a difference for some time. As a Golden ’Cane, she has raised money for other charities like the Make-A-Wish and Alex’s Lemonade Stand foundations. Her club also participates in Macy’s Letters to Santa Campaign, the MSK Kids Walk and Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation’s million-mile fundraiser, which has been a virtual walk the last few years as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. She even managed continued support despite the coronavirus-related shutdown. She, along with classmates Sean Bass and Kaitlyn McDermott, collected $1,300 for the Make-A-Wish Foundation in 2020, along with $2,300 in pledges and another $650 from a yard sale and lemonade stand for the Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation. The trio have raised more than $6,000 since they started their mission as incoming freshmen.

“Sydney realized we have such an amazing community that could help us win money for children who need it, and it was so cool to see the outpouring of support — I didn’t realize how big our Westhampton Beach family really is,” said classmate and volleyball teammate Reilly Mahon. “Sydney is so inspiring, and I am so proud of her and all of her accomplishments. She is an amazing role model for all students.”