Greg, and the Gifts He Left

They say he always had a laugh, and a kind word to say. He was always positive. You'd never know Greg Mandara had cancer, say former classmates.

Mandara, who attended Lincoln Street School, on Aug. 2, 2009, succumbed to the leukemia he had battling since he was younger.

"He was really funny, and he had a lot of jokes and he was never sad, even when he was really sick," said friend and classmate Zoe Chang. "He had a bandana and lost all his hair and still would make us laugh. We would video chat him in the hospital. He acted like he didn’t have cancer. Everybody liked him."

Now, those classmates want to project the same spirit he had to bring a sense of joy to others struggling with cancer.

Chang, along with Brooke Goguen, both in grade 7 at the , came up with the idea three months ago to create a fundraising event in Mandara's name. Calling it Greg's Gifts, they are spearheading a money collection that will be used to buy toys for kids with cancer.

"We're first going to go to UMass Memorial," said Goguen, "because that's where Greg was treated. We talked to Greg's mom and she said she will help out, too."

The toy drive will begin when students get back from vacation, with boxes set up in each homeroom for collection, and a group page has been set up on Facebook.

"It'll be like a food drive, but with toys," said Chang. 

Goguen and Chang are also selling bracelets that say "Greg's Gifts" for $2 each to raise money for the cause. Students at other Northborough schools are selling the bracelets, too.

So far, Chang and Goguen have made $250 on the bracelets alone, all which will go to the cause.

"We're going to do this for two weeks," said Goguen. "I'm hoping we can do this every year. It depends how it goes."