UPPER DARBY HIGH SCHOOL CLASS OF 1968 RAISES $2,200 FOR THE AMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY

FUNDS DONATED IN HONOR OF CLASSMATES TAKEN BY CANCER

November 15, 2008 was the 40th reunion of the Upper Darby High School Class of 1968.  Classmates literally came from the four corners of the United States to reacquaint and celebrate with people they hadn’t seen in decades. Friendships were renewed, but friendships were also remembered with classmates who had passed away - many because of cancer. 

This loss was particularly felt by Ed Subkis, now living in Asheville NC.  Ed saw that three close high school friends were on the “In Memoriam” section of the class reunion website because they lost their lives to cancer.   He had the idea that classmates could pool donations as a tribute to those who were no longer here and come up with a big contribution to the American Cancer Society in their honor.

The reunion committee, headed by Trish (Behrle) Gorman of Gladwyn, was immediately in full support of this effort.  Janet (Toomey) Stone of Lancaster was the class volunteer webmaster.  She added information about the fundraiser and a contribution form to the reunion website.  Donations began to come in as classmates discovered the website. More donations were collected at the reunion, and a flood of donations followed over the next month from e-mail appeals to classmates.  By Christmas, $2,200 had been raised.

Subkis said it was fun to reconnect with people he hadn’t seen in forty years. Throughout this fundraiser, he received letters, e-mails and checks from people all around the country.  He said it was both exciting and gratifying that classmates from all over responded to this effort. “But”, he said, “it was a bittersweet experience.  While we were experiencing the joy of renewing our friendships, we also missed many of our close friends who were no longer with us.”