Students aim to raise $100k to end cancer

Juniors and seniors in Boulder High School’s Panther Pride club are working in collaboration with St. Baldrick to fundraise for research to end childhood cancer.

Boulder High has been one of the schools that has raised the most money for the cause, according to Jordan Diamond, a senior at the school.

“Our goal this year is (to raise) $100,000. Every year, we’ve been slowly increasing (the amount),” she said.

The main fundraising event is at 4 p.m. Thursday in the Boulder High School gymnasium, 1604 Arapahoe Ave., at which there will be speakers and activities, including games. The event is open to the public. Community members can participate by attending the event, donating and participating in the activities, and volunteering to shave their head for the cause.

Every Panther Pride student has an account with St. Baldrick and is encouraged to raise money individually by setting up activities, such as drawing a name of the person who has donated and giving them a personalized date night, according to Diamond.

“It’s like an incentive to get people to donate to help fund childhood cancer research,” she said.

Imogene Gaede, a junior at Boulder High and one of the speakers at the event, said she joined Panther Pride because she enjoys participating in leadership activities at the school.

“It’s like a really good experience for being a leader. I did the program in middle school, and I really liked it,” she said.

Diamond says that the program has helped her get more involved in the community.

“It’s a really good program to not only help people in our community, but people all around,” she added.

FILE PHOTO A tear rolls down Peyton Hill’s face as she has her head shaved in memory of her friend, Audrey Lupton, who died of cancer in 2017. Hill and Hayden Hotchkiss, at right, had their heads shaved at the St. Baldrick’s fundraising event at Boulder High School in 2018.