11-Year-Old Largo Girl Raises $1,000 For Cancer Research

Relay For Life is an annual campaign conducted by the American Cancer Society designed to raise money and awareness in hope of eliminating the deadly disease.

Each event is comprised of teams of relayers, usually cancer survivors, their family members and supporters, plus vendors and other people who are there to help support the cause.

For the past three years, 11-year-old Largo resident Skylar Rooney has participated in the Relay For Life event in her community in support of family members who have battled cancer.

So when she found out her grandmother didn’t plan on organizing a relay team this year, Skylar took it upon herself to do something about it.

“She knew it was that time of year so she asked me when we were doing the relay,” Linda Burhans, Skylar’s grandmother, said during the event on Saturday.

“When I told her we weren’t doing it this year, we didn’t have enough money to fund a team, she made some items, sold then on our block, came back with $72 and said, ‘When do we start?’ ”

After organizing their team, the Soul Sisters, Skylar wasn’t done fundraising.

By selling homemade potholders, jewelry and God boxes in her neighborhood and at school, Rooney raised more than $1,000 for Relay For Life.

“My grandpa is battling cancer, my great-grandma died from it and my godmother is battling cancer too,” the soft-spoken Seminole Elementary School student said.

“I know it means a lot to them if I can do something to help them.”

That kind of drive and determination is emblematic of many cancer survivors and their family members. 

But to find it in an 11-year-old elementary student is exceptional, according to those involved with the event.

“Most of the money for Relay For Life is raised well in advance of the events,”said Karina Peoples, Senior Community Representative for the Florida division of the American Cancer Society, at the Largo Central Park Relay. 

“The average donation is $23, so to have one girl raise more than $1,000 by herself is just extraordinary.” 

In between relays, Skylar stays busy with other activities as well; the fifth-grader takes dance lessons, volunteers at Kiwanis Club and helps feed the homeless.

When asked if she would be back in the relay next year, Rooney responded with a quiet, “probably.” 

Burhans, who works as a caregiver advocate for Harmony Home Health and regularly blogs for Patch, was a little more definitive. 

“After what happened this year, I don’t think there’s any way she’ll miss it!”

Note: A previous version of this article stated that Linda Burhans was a cancer survivor. That was not correct. A change has been made to clarify the error.

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