Breast cancer rates are increasing globally, and Del Mar High School is taking action. From Sept. 30 – Oct. 4, Del Mar hosted a Think Pink Spirit Week to raise money for breast cancer awareness among patients and families. Students, staff, and parents at Del Mar got to work. The community engaged in events and fundraisers to support the cause.
Here is a recap of the Think Pink Spirit Week for the 2024-2025 school year.
On Monday, Sept. 30, Associated Student Body member Andres Padilla worked on selling accessories to fundraise for breast cancer and creating posters.
During Monday’s break, Andres discussed the progress of setting up for spirit week.
“This year is gonna go really well,” Andres said. “We’re improving our advertising skills, and hopefully, we get more sales for Think Pink so other people can purchase our items, and just so the whole school can have more spirit.”
The Think Pink Spirit Week helped Andres have more awareness of breast cancer, making him more effective during the two-month preparation period for the event.
Another ASB Leadership student, Lukas Nguyen, spoke during Monday’s lunch:
“So one of the things that we do, and very big pink week, is that we reach out to cancer patients at CarePoint,” Lukas said, “…our representative that we have gets back to us and gives us more information about what they’ve been doing and stuff like that. So that’s opened our eyes to what has been happening on campus and how we have been able to support their fight against breast cancer week and then raise awareness.”
Support was shown on Tuesday and Wednesday as students dressed in pink. During Tuesday’s lunch, students participated in a fundraiser by paying to have members of the Associated Student Body soaked with water. The money raised went to Cancer CarePoint.
On Thursday, Oct. 4, Athletic Director Ryan Castaneda explained, “Think Pink week is always an important week for us, just because it gives an opportunity for athletes to support those afflicted. For example, we have our girls’ volleyball team and football team. Tonight, we’ll be dressing up in the facilities and representing something very exciting for that.”
Another fundraiser at lunch involved ASB members Ty Fought, Lindsey Goetowski, and Noah Sonntag being taped onto a wall for a dollar per piece. The money was also sent to Cancer CarePoint.
Furthermore, ASB President Samantha Green discussed her role during the recent football game, stating, “I oversaw the game. I want to say we probably started planning about three weeks ago. Yeah, it’s, it’s been fun. This is a tradition, so I’ve done this all four years of ASB. We always partner with Cancer CarePoint, which is really fun.”
Samantha concluded by expressing her thoughts about the movement, saying, “It’s really empowering and really nice to see that we’re working exactly.”
Assistant Principal Mr. Nguyen added his thoughts on Think Pink, noting, “Just see football as a way to represent things like breast cancer awareness are important.” He hopes to raise between $1000 and $9999 dollars.
Meghan Hernandez, the mother of Davy Hernandez, a Del Mar football player, shared her thoughts about the football game and the spirit week. “I love it. Very excited to be able to provide support,” she said. “I love the Del Mar short set and the merchandise that’s available. You know, supporting we have. I have a friend who actually is here today, a breast cancer survivor, so I’m actually very excited.”
She expressed more about her feelings upon knowing a breast cancer survivor, saying, “Scary [. . .] Early detection is key. Treatment is good. And, you know, just being able to support as much as you can, and then we have the best possible outcome. She’s in remission. So I’m very happy to support the family as of right now.”
The boys’ football team ended with the Dons winning 14-6. We concluded our last interview with Jonathan Tanori, a boys’ varsity football player, who summarized the game and suggested improvements:
“I think the game went decent, our offense made a lot of mistakes but our defense held it down and got us the win. Just making less mistakes, hold the ball tight and playing hard [are the improvements to make for the upcoming matches].”
The Think Pink Spirit Week enabled Del Mar to raise funds and awareness for breast cancer while educating students on its importance. The impact of the 2024-2025 Think Pink Spirit Week is undeniable, with funds reaching $690.18 as of Oct. 23. We await what is next for the coming years. Go, Dons!
