Greenport Trustee Joins Mission to Raise Money for Children's Cancer Awareness

North Fork, NY - Another local resident has taken a stand for Sam, a five-year-old boy fighting cancer.

On Friday, Greenport VIllage Trustee Jack Martilotta went to Heather's Place, a local hair salon, to take the plunge and shave his head for Sam Duffy, who was diagnosed last year with acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

Sam's mother, Holly Lanzetta, has embarked on a mission to create the “Sam’s Heroes” team, under the auspices of the St. Baldrick’s Foundation, to conquer childhood cancers.

The community is coming together to help with the fundraiser for Sam’s Heroes, which will be held on March 26 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at First and South in Greenport.

The event is a “Shave-A-Thon”; Lanzetta and others plan to shave their heads to raise funding for the St. Baldrick’s Foundation and Sam’s Heroes.

And Martilotta said it was an easy decision.

"We have known Holly and Sam for years, and wanted to do our part to help," Martilotta said. "Childhood cancers have affected far too many families, to include our own, and I would ask those in our community to come out and help support the cause."

Supporters are excited to take the challenge: “Shaving my head doesn’t scare me. Cancer scares me,” said Chris Dowling, owner of One Love Beach. ”I can’t imagine what it is like to be a child and have to deal with it. As a parent I would never want to see my child suffering through the treatments. Never knowing what the final outcome will be. It has to be hell. Shaving my head is the least I can do. If it puts a smile on Sam’s face, then it is worth it. If it raises money that goes toward finding a cure or at least less invasive treatments, then it is worth never having my hair return.”

Greenport resident Chatty Allen didn’t hesitate. “When I first heard of the Shave-a-thon, I said, ‘Sure, I’ll do it’. The reason I said that was because of Sam. Once I made the decision, it has been positive feedback. It has turned into a teaching and learning experience.”

Children and adults facing cancer aren’t given the choice of losing their hair, Allen said. “I am willingly going bald in solidarity. One thing I keep saying is, ‘Your hair is not who you are.’ Once I no longer have hair, I will still be the same person on the inside.”

Allen said she’s not only trying to raise funds, but also, open eyes and share knowledge. “I do not plan on buying a wig. My decision to shave my head is to raise money and awareness for children’s cancers — as well as adult cancers. ”

Greenport artist Alexa Suess is also shaving her head: “I’ve known Holly since before Sam was born and learned of his diagnosis shortly after it was given. Sam is one of the bravest kids I know and has taken his treatment in stride with smiles and superhero capes. Hair is trivial to me; it’ll grow back. But anything that has the potential to expedite Sam’s recovery and make him feel more like a superhero —that matters the most. I’m very excited for the Shave-a-thon at First and South and I would love to see a lot of people get involved — even if it means keeping their hair and simply donating.”

So far, 10 have signed on, with many lining up.

Sarah Phillips Loth, who is providing the space for the Shave-A-Thon at First and South, said hosting and donating the space is something businesses can afford to help support a cause, "which is why we are involved. Sam was one of the first neighborhood kids I met and he's a real peach. Just an endearing little soul with this tender attitude, bright eyes and enveloping smile. His mom's a hoot and his dog Taco is one of my local favorites. I think it will be a real celebration of those things. Of family, community, spirit and candor. The vulnerability and availability of all the players in the event is real and makes the outcome so much more than just fundraising."

Lanzetta has said partygoers of Sam's "Shave-A-Thon" are requested to come as their favorite superhero, full costume or not, with superhero spirit. Shavees will be inducted into Sam's personal "Justice League" of "super cancer fighting heroes."

A mother’s mission

March 28 will mark one year since Sam was diagnosed, Lanzetta said. “About five weeks before that, he said, ‘Mom, I have pain between my shoulder blades.’ I thought, ‘What 4-year-old kid has a back that hurts?’”

At first, Lanzetta thought maybe Sam has hurt himself wrestling with her older son, Troy Lanzetta, 15, but doctors could find no knots in his back.

Soon, her little boy started saying he didn’t want to go to gymnastics, and became pale and tired, wanting to nap every day, even though he’d stopped napping years earlier.

One day, when Sam came home after gymnastics and asked to sleep on the couch, and go to bed right way at 6 p.m., Lanzetta was frightened. “I said, ‘Okay, something is wrong.’”

She made a doctor’s appointment for that Saturday and found herself with broken windshield wipers as snow fell. A friend drove her to the physician’s office, just as Sam started spiking a fever.

The pediatrician immediately confirmed that something was gravely wrong: “She told us to go to Stony Brook right way. At first, we were fearful that it was meningitis.”

And then, Lanzetta was hit with the diagnosis that no mother should ever have to bear: Her son had leukemia.

“It was definitely a life changer,” she said.

Lanzetta, a single mom born in Richmond, Virginia, lived in East Quogue —her older son still attends Westhampton Beach High School — before settling in Greenport about three years ago. Earlier, she’d lived in Greenport briefly and worked at the North Fork Learning Center.

A community comes together

Thankfully, she said, the North Fork has opened its arms to embrace her, with Community Action of Southold Town, the village’s housing department and the food pantry at the North Fork Parish Outreach helping to put meals on the table. Local churches, including St. Peter’s Lutheran Church and the First Baptist Church of Greenport, have also helped, she said.

Neighbors have also helped with furniture, food, toys, gas cards, and so much support. “The Opportunity Shop helped Sam get his dream bed for Christmas,” she wrote, adding that the Martilottas and Greenport students raised funding to provide immediate financial support when he was diagnosed.

Although her son seems to look well right now — he lost his hair, but it’s growing back — Lanzetta said “the treatments are just horrible” causing cognitive issues and “lifelong damage. But it’s keeping him alive.”

And the success rate, with one in five children not surviving their battle, “is not guaranteed,” she said.

Chemotherapy has caused changes to her son’s brain that are unpredictable and life-altering, she said, leaving him a child with special needs. The treatment regime for boys is three-and-a-half years, she said; her son receives chemo at home and in the hospital, she said, as well as many spinal taps.

But despite the challenges, Lanzetta said Sam’s sunny disposition shines through. “He’s got a great attitude,” she said. “He’s unbelievable.”

While Sam has toys, he also has ”a thousand costumes. He’s always dressing up, whenever he can,” Lanzetta said, laughing. “He loves to be Batman, he used to ride his bike as Iron Man — that’s why I named the group ’Sam’s Heroes.’”

Her goal, Lanzetta said, is to raise funding to change the treatment of childhood cancers. “Those treatments are currently the last on the list to get funded.” she said. “Only four percent of all cancer funding goes to children.”

Currently, her son is enrolled in a St. Baldrick’s study, she said.

Treatment for childhood cancers

Pink ribbons are easily recognized as the symbol for breast cancer awareness, Lanzetta said. “But nobody knows goal is the color for childhood cancer. How come the Empire State Building is lighted up in gold for the Grammys, but not childhood cancer? Because nobody knows.”

Lanzetta has teamed up with the St. Baldrick’s Foundation, ”to help in some way to make this better, for me, for Sam, and for the future families that will face this new way of life. I have started a St. Baldrick’s head shaving event in my lovely town of Greenport, to raise awareness and fund research for kids’ cancer.”

She made the decision after feeling fury about the “toxic chemotherapies” that make her little boy’s body ache, kill his taste buds, make it painful to walk, and can cause lifelong damage such as infertility, heart problems and even, potentially, secondary cancers down the line.

Lanzetta said although her son loves superheroes — The Make a Wish Foundation did a superhero walk in his honor last year — the name “Sam’s Heroes” really came from the desire for Sam to see other heroes in his community and beyond, people who care about him and his wish to get help with cancer treatments for his friends.

“So many have helped us, as we have no family around, and they are ’Sam’s Heroes,’” she said.

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