Calhoun Raises $75G at Relay for Life

The Bellmore-Merrick Central High School community kicked off its first-ever Relay for Life as hundreds gathered to march around the track at Sanford H. Calhoun High School on April 24. The event helped raise more than $75,000 for the American Cancer Society.

The 12-hour overnight event started with an opening ceremony that featured remarks from the Relay for Life student committee and an impassioned speech from Holden Smith, a 10th-grade Calhoun student who recently fought and beat Hodgkin’s lymphoma. From there, survivors, including Smith, gathered on the track and took the ceremonial first lap behind a Relay for Life banner before they were joined by family members, caregivers and participants.

The event was the brainchild of Calhoun High School students Adam Myers, Michael Jean and Matthew Koffler. The students expressed their desire to put together an event in honor of Calhoun teacher Doug Smestad, who is currently battling liver cancer. The core group of students, known as “Smestad’s Knights,” approached administrators last year and began planning. Relay advisor Wendy Simson worked with Relay for Life Specialist Sarah Sobel on getting the event off the ground. During the opening ceremony, Sobel presented Myers, Jean, Koffler and Christine Collins with certificates for their outstanding service organizing the Relay.

Highlights of the evening also included a soaring rendition of the “Star Spangled Banner” from student Alaina Anderson, a performance from Calhoun alum and former “American Idol” contestant Robbie Rosen, live performances from the bands “Wait for It” and “Calhoun’s Crescendo;” and the luminaria ceremony of candle-lit lanterns lined up along the track.

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