Walt Whitman HS Girls Raise $1,250 For Breast Cancer, Collect Pajamas

SOUTH HUNTINGTON, NY — Walt Whitman High School’s Girls Leaders Organization (GLO) raised $1,250 for breast cancer by running two successful community service events, the South Huntington School District announced.

The month started with GLO’s annual "flocking" fundraiser to help in the fight against breast cancer. October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and the members of GLO have a special way of raising money each year that goes toward research at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory through an organization called Stand Up for Suzanne.

For seven nights, several teams of two girls fan out around South Huntington with small flocks of pink lawn flamingos. They covertly leave a flock on the front lawn of someone who has been anonymously nominated. They also leave a sign on the lawn that says "Congratulations, you’ve been flocked!"

That sign directs people to the Stand Up for Suzanne website which tells them what to do next. People can make a donation if you’d like, because there’s no obligation, but then they can anonymously pick someone to get flocked next. Later that night, the girls go back out and migrate all the flocks to the nominated lawns.

This year GLO raised $1,250, adding up to a total of $3,500 since 2020.

Also in October, the girls of GLO held a pajama drive for needy families within the South Huntington School District and the Pediatric Unit at Huntington Hospital. They collected more than 150 pairs of new pajamas, and on Nov. 1, they visited Huntington Hospital to deliver a portion of those new PJs for children in the unit.

"The Girls Leaders Organization is an elite academic athletic honor society," the district wrote. "It recognizes the exceptional young women at Walt Whitman High School who have successfully balanced high school athletics and academics. Girls who are accepted as members meet a series of requirements in regards to academics, athletic activities, and club participation. A big part of what they do is community service. And the giving doesn’t stop. They’re next big activity is a Holiday Food Drive."