HOSA Members Raise Awareness About Pediatric Cancer

Carly Branstetter, Reporter

The Health Occupation Students of America (HOSA) is hosting a Gold Night at the boy’s varsity basketball game versus Howell on December 10 to raise money for the National Pediatric Cancer Foundation (NPCF).

“We are raising money…in various ways leading up to the boy’s varsity basketball game on December 10. We are delighted to be supporting such an important cause,” junior Amelia Seiz president-elect of HOSA said.

Members of HOSA will be decorating the gym in gold for the basketball game and holding multiple activities to raise money. There will be a “miracle minute” at halftime, where members of HOSA will collect as much money as they can in one minute from people in the stands. There will also be raffles and various announcements throughout the game

“I am extremely excited to go to the game. It is a great cause to support, and it is a fun way to raise awareness about a horrible disease,” junior Lucy Felber said.

Last year, the National Pediatric Cancer Foundation was chosen as the sponsored organization by the international level of HOSA for various HOSA School Associations in the United States, Canada, Germany, Italy, and Puerto Rico to sponsor.

“The event is going very well so far. We have had a number of businesses willing to help us with our event, and we are excited to see everyone come out to the game to support not only the basketball team, but HOSA and NPCF as well,” senior Sophia Giltner president of HOSA said.

Pediatric cancer is a fatal sickness that is the number one cause of death by disease among children. Every day, 43 children are expected to be diagnosed with some type of cancer. Out of the billions of dollars that are spent on cancer research annually, only four percent of the proceeds are directed to the treatment of childhood cancer (“Facts About Childhood Cancer”).

“Raising awareness about pediatric cancer means a lot to me, because I know a lot of families who are affected by pediatric cancer. It is a really horrible thing. You never want to see kids face an illness that early in their lives. It’s something that we need to devote a lot more time, research and awareness to,” senior Quentin Simpson vice president of HOSA said.

For more information about raising awareness about pediatric cancer, go to https://nationalpcf.org/ or http://www.hosa.org/serviceproject.