LUNGevity & Deerfield Mayor Honor School Chest Fundraising

Deerfield High School students got a BIG thank you from LUNGevity on Tuesday for their fundraising efforts during School Chest 2012.

Each year, Deerfield High School chooses a different charitable organization for its annual three week fundraiser (School Chest). In 2012, DHS selected an organization with local ties. LUNGevity was founded in 2001 by seven lung cancer patients including a Deerfield High School graduate and a Deerfield mom. LUNGevity raises awareness and funding for critical research.

School Chest 2012 broke DHS fundraising records by raising more than $136,000 for the organization.

Deerfield High School Student Council, including School Chest Co-Chairs Samantha Gottstein and Graham Ambrose, were honored for their role spearheading the fundraising efforts at a special student council meeting and plaque presentation on April 16.

“Deerfield and the North Shore communities are role models in the fight against lung cancer,” said LUNGevity Foundation President Andrea Stern Ferris. “If more communities embraced the fight against lung cancer with the passion, commitment and caring of the North Shore, we as a nation could change the face of lung cancer survivorship.”

In an attempt to continue the communities’ fight against lung cancer, Deerfield Mayor Harriet Rosenthal proclaimed April 28th Breathe Deep North Shore Day at the Village’s last meeting.

Rosenthal – along with numerous other Chicago suburbs – have made the proclamation.

The Village also honored Gottstein and Ambrose for their leadership during School Chest 2012.

“One in 14 people will be diagnosed with lung cancer in their lifetime, and I’m one of them,” said Deerfield resident Jill Feldman, a LUNGevity representative at the Village’s meeting. Feldman is a mom of four with two teenagers at Deerfield High School. 

“No one deserves lung cancer, and anyone can get it. Research funds are desperately needed to find more effective early detection methods and treatments for this disease. It is inspiring to see our community taking on a cause that has devastated so many here and across the nation.”  

In the past year alone, North Shore area grassroots events, combined with Deerfield High School’s School Chest project, have raised over $280,000 for LUNGevity’s lung cancer research funding. The next event, Breathe Deep
North Shore, a 5k fun run and one-mile walk in Deerfield, is April 28 and is
expected to host approximately 1,500 supporters and raise well over $100,000.