By Divya Gottiparthy
Recently, the Sewanhaka Central High School District Gymnastics team participated in Cartwheel for a Cure, an annual fundraising event in Nassau County. The event tasks the participants to see the number of cartwheels they can complete in three minutes. For six years, Cartwheel for a Cure has been an annual gymnastics event that raises money for numerous foundations and disease research. This year, it raised awareness and funded pediatric brain cancer research.
Gymnasts from nine teams participated in this year’s fundraiser and raised money to benefit the Madison Milio tribute fund, “Mighty Madison,” which honors Madison Milio, who passed away in December. Madison Milio is the daughter of two district faculty members and fought a three year battle with DIPG, diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma, a type of brain cancer.
In support of the Milio family, the Sewanhaka district team participated in both the meet and the fundraising event. The gymnasts were honored to display their skills not for scores, but to demonstrate the importance of the cause. Pictures of Madison were hung around the gym as a constant reminder of what the day was about. The meet’s goal was to bring awareness for pediatric cancer, and it was successful. Many people who attended the event contributed to the cause by wearing and/or purchasing shirts and donating.
Source from @nhp_athletics
The district gymnastics team unites after participating in Cartwheel for a Cure.
“The competition had multiple teams coming from different parts of Nassau County. We hosted it to remember Madison Milo and to raise money to donate to pediatric brain cancer research. Each team had a different fundraiser, and the Sewanhaka team ended up raising just about $1,000 to donate. We were reminded of how special and unique Madison was and how much of an impact she made on not only everyone at the meet, but also at New Hyde Park Memorial...This meet brought a ton of awareness to pediatric brain cancer and how scary it can be for the families and children with it,” junior gymnast Dora Alfieri said.
The district’s gymnastic team collectively raised $1,000 through online donations and cash they collected. All of this money was given directly to the Milio Tribute Fund. In competing for the most number of cartwheels, Zoe Amadike, a student attending Sewanhaka High School, held the team record standing at 149 cartwheels.
The event impacted the NHP community through its contribution to spreading disease awareness. The support displayed by all participating teams and businesses in the fundraising event spoke volumes about sportsmanship and mutual support from competitors towards the same cause. In school itself, many students are inspired by the achievements the district team accomplished with the event, the competition and local recognition they received for their participation in the fundraiser.