HIGH NOTES: Marathon dance for charity, bone marrow drive in Niskayuna, help for crash victim

Article Audio:

Share on Facebook

Save

In South Glens Falls, students, staff, parents and members of the community helped raise more than $630,000 for 28 local recipients as part of the 46th annual South High Marathon Dance. The dance took place March 3 and 4 at the South Glens Falls High School and featured students dancing for 28 hours. Students secure sponsorships to participate in the dance, and many businesses, individuals and groups support the effort with donations of services, food, money and gifts for raffles. The dance had been scaled down and held at Six Flags Great Escape in Queensbury the past two years due to the pandemic. This year’s event raised $630,111. The 28 recipients included both individuals and organizations from South Glens Falls and neighboring areas. Since its inception in 1975, the South High Marathon Dance has raised a total of $10.5 million for those in need.

In Niskayuna, community members and a national organization dedicated to curing blood cancer held a bone marrow donor drive and fundraiser to help out a young local child suffering from a rare blood disease. During the event, sponsored by the Gift of Life organizations, residents had the opportunity to offer a cheek swab and fill out a digital form to determine whether they were a potential donor match for the child, 4-year-old Erin Jasinski. Erin is suffering from aplastic anemia and needs a bone marrow transplant. She is being treated at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston. The event also featured a back sale, a raffle, T-shirt sale and other activities. For more information on the Gift of Life organization, visit: https://www.giftoflife.org/. To contribute to a GoFundMe campaign to help offset the family’s expenses, visit: https://www.gofundme.com/f/erins-journey-with-aplastic-anemia.

In Troy, the community has donated more than $37,500 through Friday to a GoFundMe campaign to help the family of a 30-year-old father of two killed in a collision with a city police vehicle on Feb. 22. Sabeh Alalkawi was a pizza delivery person for Amante Pizza. Alalkawi’s friend, Yaser Khalili organized the GoFundMe fundraiser with Auday Khalil and Usama Khalid. To donate, visit https://www.gofundme.com/f/sabeh-alalkawi-funeral-family?qid=d6b6a0429d0fb3f99d95c3a77fd7d028.

SHARE YOUR HIGH NOTES
High Notes is a Monday feature of The Gazette Opinion section spotlighting the good being done in our communities by individuals, organizations, schools and colleges, and businesses. If you know of anyone who should be celebrated, send your suggestions for High Notes to Editorial Page Editor Mark Mahoney at [email protected]