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New Trier student honors father at Relay
Sisters Maddy Sacks, 15, and Samantha (Sam) Sacks, 18, are 2/3rds of Team Jerry. | Rob Dicker~Sun-Times Media
Updated: August 10, 2012 10:47AM
When New Trier High School student Samantha Sacks steps onto the track at New Trier Township’s Relay for Life on June 22, she will be walking in memory of her father who died in February from melanoma.
“My dad, Jerry, was diagnosed with stage IV metastatic melanoma six years ago and it was a very long battle,” Samantha, of Northfield, said. “His cancer was so aggressive. It seemed like we were fighting time because treatments would be coming out right as he was needing them. That is why Relay is so important to me, because through Relay there is funding for breakthrough science and research that without Relay, would not be possible.”
Sacks and her sister Maddy have organized “Team Jerry” in honor of their father who they lost this year to Stage Four Metastatic Melanoma. Currently Sacks is the leading individual fundraiser with more than $4,000 already raised of their team’s $10,000 goal. Online team fundraising pages feature a “Why I Relay” message to donors and provide updates on team activities leading up to the big event.
Last year her father walked the survivors’ lap at Relay.
“He was a very funny guy who loved to have fun and he never once complained about anything he had to go through,” Sacks said. “At the end, there wasn’t a lot I could do for him, so I felt Relay was the thing I could do.”
