Collingwood students surpass Relay for Life fundraising goal

Hundreds of Collingwood students rallied together on Thursday evening to take a stand against cancer.

For the sixth time, students and staff from Collingwood Collegiate Institute and Our Lady of the Bay teamed up to hold a Relay for Life event. The two schools hold the event honouring a former colleague taken by the disease.

"It's in honour of our colleague Mark Spencer who lost his life to cancer 10 years ago now, and his wife taught at Our Lady of the Bay, and he taught at our school, and so we decided that we would do it as a community event," said John Mcdonald, the teacher who helped organize Thursday's event.

The day-long event included shaved ice, a photo booth, beach volleyball and live music, amongst other activities. Approximately 800 students participated in the event, which quickly surpassed its $120,000 goal.

"It's honestly pretty incredible to me," said Ashawnee Hoggard, one of the student organizers. "You always see the adults fundraising, but watching the amount of money children are able to raise is absolutely insane."

Hoggard first took part in the Relay for Life last year but wanted to take on a leadership role this year after watching someone she knew fight the disease.

"Last year, one of my really close friends was diagnosed with cancer and watching him fight through his battle, it changed how I saw the event personally, so I just wanted to be a big part of it."

Over the last six years, the two schools have raised approximately half-a-million dollars for cancer research.