In July, students from the Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School (MVRHS), along with family and fellow community members, will swim to make a difference in the fight against cancer. Juniors Leah Thompson and Zoe Treitman are leading the first Island-wide Swim Across America fundraiser to support Martha’s Vineyard Hospital’s Cancer Center.
Swim Across America (SAA) is a national nonprofit organization dedicated to raising money and awareness for cancer centers and research through charity swims across the country.
Event swimmer and freshman Emmy Treitman explained, “There are three options that you can swim: a quarter-mile, half a mile, and a mile.”
Junior Matt Macmillan said the money raised will directly benefit the community’s families going through treatment. “I think it will be great for the cancer center at the hospital,” he said, and added, “I hope it will make the experience a lot easier for people who are getting care and who live on the Vineyard, because it would eliminate the need to travel off-Island for some things if they had more access to [care] here.”
Leah and Zoe took the lead in bringing the initiative to the Island after reading about Nantucket’s event last year. “There’s an open-water swim in Nantucket, and it’s been going on for about 10 years, and they broke their $1 million mark last year,” she said. “So we were reading that in the news, and thought it would be great to have one on the Island because there’s just so much fundraising potential here.”
So far, 100 people have registered to either swim or volunteer. Zoe and Leah hope to enlist more than 200 people by the time of the event on July 18. Leah said, “I think we’re well on the way there.”
Zoe said the group is working toward their goal with momentum. “We’re hoping to raise $200,000, and so far we’ve raised $30,000,” she said.
The process of bringing the fundraiser to life involved multiple steps, from contacting the nonprofit to securing local approval. “We had to reach out to Swim Across America, and have an initial call with them, and then Zoe and I got select board approval to use the beach in Menemsha. I think we’re going to blow them away with how much money we can raise,” Leah said.
Both Leah and Zoe have dealt with the experience of cancer in their families, and hope the event will help strengthen treatment on the Vineyard.
“My grandmother passed away from colon cancer when I was in second grade, and also in our community, there are a lot of people with cancer, and I just wanted to make an impact and help them,” Zoe said.
Leah shared a similar motivation. “My grandmother passed away when I was in elementary school from breast cancer, and I saw how that affected my mom. Something that people have been saying to us is that instead of being scared about [cancer], we’re doing something about it,” she said.
Like Zoe and Leah, many participants share similar personal connections to the cause, resulting in the creation of teams where participants can raise money as a group.
Matt shared his inspiration for starting a team. “Last year my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer. She’s been undergoing surgeries and treatment these past 12 months, and she just finished up her last surgery actually, and she’s survived. And so I started a team for her, along with [MVRHS sophomore] Donnie Gregory, whose mom went through a similar experience,” he said.
Leah and Zoe are an example of the impact young voices can have in a community. “We’re the youngest event directors that [Swim Across America] has ever had, which is very exciting,” Zoe said.
For Zoe, the event carries an important promise of support for the Island community. “Swim Across America’s main saying is, ‘Money raised local stays local.’ So the money we raise here, we want everyone to know, that it’s going to directly impact the Island,” she said.