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Student Spearheads Fundraiser for Massey Cancer Center

4/11/2018

On Saturday, April 14, Collegiate 10th Grader Dylan Lyons will lace up her running shoes before hitting the pavement during the Monument Avenue 10k. She will race with Cougars Care, the organization she created as a 7th Grader to raise money for the Massey Cancer Center.

Dylan remembers participating in her first Monument Avenue 10k when she was 5. She ran the 1-mile race with her dad to raise money in honor of her grandmother, who was battling cancer.

“I didn’t know anything about cancer,” she said. “It’s not like I could cure the disease as a 5-year-old, so raising money and running the race was the only thing I could do.”

Dylan’s grandmother died in 2009, but since then, Dylan’s connection with the Massey Cancer Center and the race has continued. She founded Cougars Care three years ago to expand her mission to raise funds for cancer research.

“I had always raised money, but it wasn’t as a community effort,” she said. “I thought it would be a better idea to get all my friends and have them branch out to their family members so we could raise more.”

The group, which now includes 15 Collegiate students, raised $14,680 last year. This year, Dylan would like to beat that number. And in the future, she would like Cougars Care to grow its membership and continue participating in the 10k after she graduates.

“It’s just so much fun,” she said. “I like seeing all the costumes people wear and when they cheer you on, knowing that you’re doing a good thing is just the best feeling.”

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