Students at Schuyler-Colfax Middle School in Wayne spent the past month pie-throwing, flag-football playing and even duct-taping their own teachers to a gym wall, all in the name of a cause close to one eighth grader's heart. The school's annual Pink Out campaign wrapped up with a schoolwide rally on October 30, and organizers say this year's push brought in $19,250 for women battling cancer.
A Student-Led Push With Deep Roots
According to News12 New Jersey, the campaign has now raised more than $112,000 since 2018, funneling donations to Mary's Place by the Sea, an Ocean Grove nonprofit that provides free wellness retreats and services to women with cancer. The Pink Out campaign is organized by student Samantha Levine, who was inspired by her mother Claire Levine's breast cancer diagnosis in 2001. Claire Levine is now celebrating 25 years cancer-free, per the same report.
The monthlong campaign leaned heavily on student-led events and a flag football tournament to drum up donations before everything culminated in the gymnasium rally. Four school staff members were recognized as breast cancer survivors during the celebration, the station reported.
Pies, a Pink Jail and Teachers Taped to a Wall
The rally itself doubled as a spectacle. Teachers were duct-taped to a gym wall, the principal spent time in what organizers dubbed the pink jail, and students lined up for the chance to throw pies at Levine herself, according to News12 New Jersey. A photo from the event was credited to Ryan Dunn.
The fun-and-games approach is part of what's kept the campaign going for nearly a decade, funneling real dollars to an organization that depends on donations to keep its services free. Mary's Place by the Sea says on its website that all accommodations, meals and services are provided at no cost to the women who stay there.
What the Money Supports
Eleanor Schoenberger, program director at Mary's Place by the Sea, said $100,000 can help provide free services to more than 200 women with cancer, per News12 New Jersey's reporting. The Ocean Grove retreat house can accommodate up to eight guests at a time in private bedrooms with en suite bathrooms, New Jersey Monthly has reported.
The nonprofit describes its mission as supporting women with cancer mind, body and soul through wellness retreats and integrative services that build what it calls transformative connections, according to its about page. Those services include counseling, meditation, health coaching, oncology massage, writing, reflexology, prayer and yoga, CURE has reported.
A Growing Reach Since 2009
Mary's Place by the Sea was founded in 2009 and says it has since welcomed 17,000 women through its doors, per its own account. The organization adds that it has hosted guests from 41 states and abroad since opening.
New Jersey Monthly has reported that the nonprofit serves about 1,000 women annually through in-person retreats, with another 4,000 to 5,000 participating through its online program each year. The organization's other fundraising efforts have included its Swing for the Soul Golf Outing, which Patch reported raised a record $160,000 when roughly 140 golfers turned out at the Deal Golf & Country Club.
For Schuyler-Colfax students, the numbers are smaller but the mission is the same one that's driven Samantha Levine's campaign since it began: honoring her mother's survival by helping fund care for women facing the same diagnosis Claire Levine received in 2001.
