Friends of Rachel are Friends of Leah

Lately Norton has pulled together to help the family of Leah Fernandes, who was diagnosed with Medulloblastoma, an aggressive form of cancer. Saturday was just one example of the town’s efforts when the Friends of Rachel Group at ran Washes for Leah, a car wash fundraiser.

 “I came up with the idea to do something to help the family out after I read the story in the Patch and the students from my Friends of Rachel Group came up with some ideas to help the family and we chose a car wash,” said assistant principal Michael Vitelli.

 Approximately 50 cars came in through the wash, and the group of 20 eighth grade students and two teachers, Vitelli and Heather Caswell, raised $1,235.

 The Friends of Rachel Group was started in honor of Rachel Scott, who was the first student killed in the Columbine High School shootings. After she was killed, her family toured the country spreading the word about Scott’s mission to help people and create a chain reaction.

 “Rachel was a young lady full of passion, life and compassion for others,” Vitelli said. As a result of the presentation we had about Rachel, our students, as do students from other school systems, started our Friends of Rachel group and basically the premise of the group is to encourage positive behavior and compassion for others.”

 The All In for Leah Texas hold’em event and Ride for Leah were also held Sunday of this weekend.

 The next event to help the Fernandes family will be Laughs for Leah, a dinner and comedy show with Ben Hague and Michael Petit Friday, June 17, 6 to 11:30 p.m. at Cumberland Public Safety Union Hall, 7 Cray St., Cumberland, R.I. The event will include a cash bar and raffle. Tickets are $25 and will be sold at the Chartley Country Store in Norton and Rehoboth. and Wetherell’s on S. Worcester Street are also selling wristbands for donations of $5 or more.

Rockin Live for Leah will be 8 p.m. to midnight Thursday, June 30 at and will feature music from The New Band and Kunochi. The door donation will be $10.

 For more information on how you can help the Fernandes family, visit their Facebook page.

If you have photos of any Leah Fernandes benefit events, please email them to Kelly.Mello@Patch.com.