Dunckel Middle School Students Raise $6,000 in Relay for Life Event

Dunckel Middle School students raised more than $6,000 for the American Cancer Society Wednesday afternoon, during a Relay for Life walk held on the school track. 

Eighth grader Alec Cohen said he has done other Relay for Life events, which are usually 24-hour walks done in shifts by teams. He wanted to do one at the Farmington Hills school because he lost his grandfather to cancer a year and a half ago. Teacher Julie Stahr helped him get the event started, he said, and some members of Student Council also worked on the project. 

About 200 students walked from 12 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.; each had to raise a minimum of $25 to participate, Cohen said. 

Bill and Susan Graham, who lost their 17-year-old daughter Alex to cancer in 1998, spoke to students before the event got started. 

"It's not about the money. It's about what the money can do," said Bill Graham, who noted that when he was the students' age, a cancer diagnosis was a death sentence. 

"Today, if you get a diagnosis of cancer, the odds are 80 to 90 percent that you will survive," he said. 

Read more: Zap Zone Hosts Relay for Life Fundraiser in Farmington