Sparta students walk to raise funds to fight cancer

Sparta - Five girls from Sparta Middle School, ages 12 and 13, participated in an American Cancer Society Relay for Life walk to raise funds to fight cancer, at Roselle Park High School over the weekend of June 3 and June 4. Without the help of any local organized group, team leader Cara Leahy and her four friends, Meg Dmuchowski, Nicole Hart, Erica Roberts and Mary Kate Cartwright, formed their own team, called KAFT (Kids Are Fighting Too). The girls each have family members who have suffered from one or more types of cancer. They raised more than $1,700 in donations and sales from items sold at lunch in the Sparta Middle School cafeteria. The KAFT team, along with 60 other teams (mostly adults), walked all night in the rain around the high-school track. In total, the event brought in over $180,000. “Too many times, the good that young people do goes unnoticed because of their youth,” said Jo Ann Enstrom of Sparta. “This was the girls’ first year and I am very proud of the work and money they raised on their own. Although they never looked for praise, they deserve it.”