June 5, 2007

Willow Glen Relay For Life Nets $185,000+

Honors Kathleen Pizzo

By Carol Rosen
Editor

This year’s Willow Glen Relay For Life so far has made $185,000 and is still counting money coming in. That easily breaks last year’s record of $109,000.

The Willow Glen High School All Stars came out in force. This year’s team includes (kneeling) Robby Paine who will be attending Chico State; front row, from the left, Tracy Davis, San Jose State; Emily Mello, West Valley; Amelia Zahra, DeAnza; Sara Thompkins, Chico State; Kristen Davis, DeAnza; Allison Herman, Chico State; Jaime Herman, Chico State; and Becca Murday, USC; standing in the back row from the left are Brian Church, UCSB; Jimmy Hugnh, UCSC; and Anthony Rodriguez, DeAnza. Photos by Carol Rosen.

However, while the relay was an even bigger success, there was sadness as Kathleen Pizzo, a committee member of relay for the past six years, passed away shortly before the event took place. Kathleen was a cancer survivor who experienced a recurrence of the disease a year ago. She died on April 9.

Her husband Dennis and daughter Gina volunteered their time to help this year, while 16 committee members and friends carried the letters of her name and wore pictures of her on their T-shirts on the first lap following the survivors. Committee members wore buttons with Kathleen’s picture.

This would have been the seventh year that volunteer Sherry Rodriguez, Debbie Evans, Pam Green and Georgia Ladd joined Kathleen as committee members.

Unlike past events, this year’s relay committee consisted of about 20 people. In the past, Willow Glen Relay committees have been smaller. Another change this year was the number of teams. Previous years saw the number of teams rise as the age of the relay grew. Last year there were 22 teams; this year there were about 40. One of those was a national team from Walgreens, which contained about 85 people or four teams.

Last year the survivors numbered approximately 25, this year there were 90. One survivor was accompanied by his son. District 6 City Councilmember Pierluigi Oliverio walked with his father during the survivor lap. Oliverio was at the opening ceremony to speak and spent part of the evening at Relay.

Much of the fund-raising was done prior to the relay, allowing teams to relax and enjoy the 24-hour event. For example, Empower, the team last year that brought in the most money, worked the entire 24 hours making additional money. This year’s Empower team offered walkers free hand massages, ice packs and a place to relax with flowers and fresh fruit.

Most important, however, everyone there sensed and felt like part of a community, despite the size of the relay and the number of teams. “There’s was such a great community feeling,” said Mary Keenan, chair of the event. “Each year that feeling grows more and more.”

At press time, the Willow Glen Relay had collected $185,000, including $8,000 that was donated online. That total does not include matching funds. That compares with about $150,000 a year ago. Each of the more than 40 teams brought in about an average of more than $4,000.

“I don’t know what we will do to top this year, but we’re sure going to try,” said one committee member.
Two teams came from Old Orchard School in Campbell. These students didn’t get money from mom, dad and the relatives, they went out and earned the $10,000 they delivered. The students held car washes and other fund-raisers working. Keenan adds that five or six contributors gave about $1,000 each.

This year’s relay offered a special lap for Kathleen Pizzo who had been on the Willow Glen Relay committee throughout its existence. Although she passed away on April 9, there was a special lap with 16 friends and committee members carrying the letters of her name and three hearts.

Another team was made up of family. Richard Bovone of Willow Glen, and his seven children and their families all turned out with an Italian theme. Bovone, who has a unique cancer, had taken his family to Italy. This team was the top fund-raiser, earning $45,000.

Others offering donations and help included Dennis Pizzo, who worked on the food and hospitality committee and the Archbishop Mitty High School Film Club, whose members volunteered to video and take still pictures of the event.

And for the sixth, and possibly final year, the Willow Glen All Stars got out their pink flamingos and decorated lawns throughout the area. “We raised over $1,000 again with the flamingos,” said Anthony Rodriguez, a charter member of the team, explaining that someone orders the flock of 50 pink birds put in a specific yard. Instructions are hung on the mother flamingo’s neck explaining the cost of ridding the lawn of the birds. The lawn owner then pays one fee to get rid of the birds, another to send them to someone else’s lawn and a final fee to never see them again. This is the group’s second year with the flamingos, but probably the last since all are seniors and will be graduating and going off to college.

This year’s relay committee consisted of Keenan, Jeannie Boin for entertainment, Pam Green, Sue Berry and Teresa Fleishman for food and hospitality, Shirley Fuller for the luminaria, Georgia Ladd for mission delivery, Felice Lopiccolo for online, Linda Baxter as master of ceremonies, Marilyn Morici-Duran for publicity, Kathleen Pizzo for registration and accounting; Sherry Rodriguez and Deb Evans for survivorship, registration and counting; Susan Gentile and Alexander Zellner for team recruitment; Beth Keenan and Gina Pizzo for youth; Jan and Bob Bokemann for logistics and Less Herrera and Elizabeth Vargas as American Cancer Society staff partners.