Relay for Life effort kicks off to help fight cancer
By Samantha Raucci Contributor January 31, 2012 1:44PM
Cuba Township Supervisor Dave Nelson speaks at the Relay for Life kickoff celebration at 111 Grille in the Ice House Mall in Barrington. | Joe Cyganowski~for Sun Times Media
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Updated: March 3, 2012 8:06AM
111 Grille played host to the kickoff event for the 14th annual Barrington Relay For Life on Monday night.
The event signified the beginning of fundraising and registration for the upcoming relay. The kick off was one of many events that will be held prior to the relay event, scheduled for June 8 at Barrington High School.
Joanne Dalessandro, chairwoman of the Barrington Relay, has been involved with the relay for six years along with her daughter, Dina, who is the student chairwoman. Dalessandro originally got involved in the relay to show community support, but continues to do it to commemorate the passing of her father.
“We started a team because I wanted (my daughter) to learn about community service,” Dalessandro said. “What’s interesting is that I never planned to do it for six years, we just started.”
Barrington’s relay has been voted one of the top 25 relays in Illinois, and it raised more than $365,000 last year alone, which was an increase of $288,000 from the previous year. Dalessandro is proud of the financial success, but has more pride in the effect relay has on the community as a whole.
“It is about fundraising, but it’s about much, much more than that,” Dalessandro said. “It’s about the life connection, and knowing that you’re really helping people.”
One person Dalessandro is proud to help is 10-year-old Elena Rodriguez.
Rodriguez was diagnosed at 13 months old with neuroblastoma, which is a central nervous system cancer. She has also had an incredibly rare immune system complication as a result of the cancer where her immune system attacks her brain, causing parts of her brain to die off. Her brother, 13-year-old Nick Rodriguez, was a speaker at the kick off. Last year, he and 12 teammates from Barrington Middle School’s Prairie Campus started the team Elena Rocks! in honor of his sister. The team raised $16,000, making it the top-fundraising team of the event.
“My dad’s work friends were very generous, as were my mom’s,” Nick Rodriguez said. “All of my friends brought in a couple hundred dollars each. Really, in the end, it just all added up. Everyone chipped in a little bit.”
Susan Rodriguez, mother of Nick, Elena and Sofia, has seen the impact firsthand that relay can have on a family.
“Instead of focusing on her illness, we were able to take her illness and turn it into something more productive,” Susan Rodriguez said. “It has allowed us to do something positive with an experience that has been very hard for our family. It was a way to turn her challenges into something very positive.”
For Elena Rodriguez’s 10th birthday, Barrington Relay For Life, as well as the American Cancer Society and Pink Heals, organized a celebration to mark her first double-digit birthday. The entire Roslyn Road student body gathered to sing “Happy Birthday,” and the Rodriguez family took a ride in the Pink Heals pink fire truck.
“What this says for me personally, was that we really gave (Elena) a birthday,” Dalessandro said. “The mission gets bigger because you’re doing more for other people to really heal them. I think it really helped them as a family. You can’t buy that.”
In support of Barrington Relay, 10-15 percent of all purchases made at the Ice House Mall until Feb. 13 will go to the fundraiser. To register a team, visit www.relayforlife.org/barringtonil.
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