The WHB girls varsity volleyball team’s fundraiser, Digging for Gold, hopes to raise money for childhood cancer.

Junior Lauren Goss said, “The team had a bake sale and decorated the gym with gold decorations, to spread the word about childhood cancer.” The team also wears gold shoelaces and warm-up shirts to bring the cause with them wherever they go. 

For volleyball player junior Sydney Anastasia, childhood cancer is close to the heart. Approximately 1,800 children die each year from cancer; Sydney defeated the odds by beating stage three Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma at the age of nine. 

Sydney described cancer as “all-consuming.” She said, “Everything I did I either could or couldn’t because of it.”

Sydney was being treated for cancer for five months and went through two chemotherapy cycles. She attended the Memorial Sloan Kettering in Manhattan. 

She now has been in remission for seven years and wants to use her experience to raise awareness.

Sydney continues to contribute to the childhood cancer awareness cause. She said, “We do a lot in September because that’s Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. We try and do a lot during the holidays for the kids stuck in the hospital.”

Unfortunately, COVID-19 put a pause in the efforts last year but hopefully this year things get back to normal!