On Monday, April 27, The Student Movement Against Cancer (SMAC) club hosted the NVOT Home Run Derby during lunch to raise money to benefit the Tom Coughlin Jay Fund Foundation, which supports families facing childhood cancer. SMAC members hosted a table in the hallway the week before the derby to sell raffle tickets and receive donations. On the day of the event, each athlete had a labeled ticket container where people put their tickets in the container of the person they thought would win for a chance to take home a $50 prize. An elementary school student related to SMAC member Lianna Damiano won the raffle after being selected out of the winning container. The club was able to hand over a large donation, raising $1,000 for the foundation. Club president Erin Collins said, “I was just so proud of everyone. Not only did we raise money, but people wanted to be there. You could see everyone smiling, and I was so happy with how much fun everyone was having.”
The idea for the event and supporting the Jay Fund came from a fundraiser hosted by them at Humdingers. E. Collins said that her sister “Megan and Anthony [Onnembo] were pretty close friends, and they were thinking of collaborating on some sort of baseball fundraiser, especially after he went through his battle with cancer, and that’s kind of how the idea came to be.”
After the concept launched, the turnaround time moved quickly from idea to execution. Advisor Stacie Collins said, “We worked on this for a solid month and a half. So on one hand, it felt like a lot of time, but on the other hand, I can’t believe we pulled that off in just that time.” After the idea was approved, SMAC members went right to work, spending two weeks promoting to get the Home Run Derby ready for success.
Students and faculty were invited to participate in the derby, where they were given three pitches to hit as many home runs as possible. If a participant hit one home run, they advanced to the next round. The winner of the event received a $50 prize. Overall, 38 students and teachers participated in hitting during the derby, and members of SMAC and faculty worked together to help the event succeed by shagging balls and pitching. S. Collins said, “It wouldn’t have come off if everyone hadn’t rallied around—but luckily, everyone did.”
The baseball team all showed their support by participating in the derby and assisting the club members in shagging balls. After five rounds, junior Derek Antigua hit the most home runs, hitting four out of ten pitches. He said, “I think it’s great how Anthony brought the whole team together and a large majority of the school to organize such a fun event that went towards a great cause.”
During the event, senior baseball player Anthony Onnembo sold and signed copies of his new book, “Cancer: I Thank You”, a narrative about his health journey, hoping to help the next kid in his position feel less alone. Onnembo was diagnosed with a rare form of Lymphoma his freshman year, and this obstacle has shaped his high school career both on and off of the baseball field. He published a book on April 18 centered around a boy named “Jerry”, where he told his story through a third-person perspective. In addition to sharing his story through a book, Onnembo continues to advocate for children battling cancer through community involvement and raising awareness. He said, “It is very important to me in order to raise awareness for the kid who is, as the book describes it, sitting in the “waiting room”, meaning a kid who is on a downward spiral. I hope my book and events have the ability to show them that there is more to life and they can flip their script.”
The adversity he has experienced throughout his life went under the radar, for only his immediate family and coach knew what was going on. However, he shared his story with everyone else in his life earlier this year.
The event has reached the attention of news stations, for PIX 11 highlighted the hard work that went into making the first Home Run Derby at NVOT a smashing success. E. Collins said that this attention “was kind of mind-blowing. It felt like we were really doing something, like the news wanted to know.” The segment was shown on television the night of the event at 11.
SMAC and Onnembo worked together to transform competition into something far more meaningful, creating a source of hope. Beyond the derby, their efforts brought awareness to childhood cancer and reminded those battling it that they are not alone.
