14-year-old organizes swimming fundraiser to remember her aunt

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

A “Breaststroke 4 Breast Cancer” fundraiser Aug. 27 at the Mt. Lebanon High School pool will raise money in memory of Amber Abrams, who died last month.

The fundraiser is organized by Ms. Abrams’ 14year-old niece, competitive swimmer Maddie Dorish, who coordinated a similar event two years ago when Ms. Abrams was diagnosed.

“We started thinking it would be something small, just friends of hers, more or less” said Maddie’s mother, Mindy Dorish, a Spanish teacher at Mt. Lebanon High School. “But then things started rolling.”

The fundraiser two years ago began as a service project for Maddie’s bat mitzvah and ended up drawing about 100 swimmers and raising thousands of dollars.

Ms. Abrams, 44, was a native of Edmonton in Canada and was living in Greenville, S.C., in recent years. She and her husband, Mt. Lebanon native Geoffrey Abrams, both chiropractors, have a 5year-old son, Bryce.

The fundraiser will run from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. and include a breaststroke clinic, four-minute lap swim, Pure Barre exercise class, and an Ivivva trunk show, a popular youth clothing brand.

The $30 entrance fee for the fundraiser will benefit the Young Women’s Breast Cancer Awareness Fund.

“Coaches come from all different clubs,” Ms. Dorish said. “Even though we all compete, everyone is coming together.”

To register for the fundraiser: http:// b4bc.webs.com/.