Since 1948, The Jimmy Fund has raised millions of dollars in support of the Dana Farber Institute in Boston.  Hundreds of local and national organizations, golf tournaments, road races, and local bake sales have helped raise money for this worthy charity.  It is the official charity of the Boston Red Sox.  According to the official website of the Jimmy Fund, www.jimmyfund.org, “The Jimmy Fund solely supports Boston’s Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, raising funds for adult and pediatric cancer care and research to improve the chances of survival for cancer patients around the world.” The boy (Einar Gustafson) known to all as “Jimmy” was himself a patient of the doctor who bears the last name of the institute it now supports – Dr. Sidney Farber.

In my continuing series of articles about North Kingstown High School senior projects, I received an email from senior Sara Barker.  “For my senior project, I am researching pediatric cancer and fundraising for the Jimmy Fund through their program, Rally for the Jimmy Fund.”   I asked Sara why this particular fundraiser was important to her.  ” I chose the Jimmy Fund because I wanted to do my senior project on something that everyone would have a connection to and would benefit patients directly.  Mrs. Sweet, our assistant principal, and I were having a conversation about what I was doing for my senior project and she was so enthusiastic about me taking this project on because her daughter had cancer at a young age so she  is very involved with the Jimmy Fund.  I loved that the Jimmy Fund was partnered with the Red Sox because I love sports, so to be able to help “strike out” cancer AND do something sports related is amazing.”  I wanted to learn how Sara is getting the word out to fellow classmates and others who might want to donate.  “I have created an Instagram account, Rally for the Jimmy Fund, as a way to connect with people at home. The Rally for the Jimmy Fund is set up similarly to a GoFundMe in the way that the donations are made online.”  The team name, of course, is NKHS Skippers.  Sara added “One of my friend’s father is a season ticket holder for the Red Sox, so he was kind enough to donate 2 tickets for me to raffle off to anyone who donates to my project.”

As for future plans in the field of medicine, Sara concluded our conversation by saying “Yes, I have been planning on going into the medical field since I was little!  It has always been fascinating to me and I have always been passionate about helping people, and I have always been persistent when it comes to fixing things.  Next year, I will be majoring in Athletic Training at Marist College and then I plan on going to graduate school to become a physical therapist.  Sports are a really important part of my life and I wanted to incorporate athletics in my job somehow and I am so excited to finally be able to start working towards this career!”  If you would like to donate and support Sara Barker’s senior project, Rally for the Jimmy Fund, you can go to her official donation page by clicking this link – NKHS Skippers.  On Instagram, you can search “rallyfortheredsox” and Sara’s page will come up.  For more information on this senior project, you can email Sara at sara_barker@students.nksd.net.  

Great project and best of luck Sara with this fundraiser.

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