Meet Adriana, a rising 8th grader on a mission to help anyway she can. After her successful GO GOLD® fundraiser, Adriana is committed to doing more within her community to raise awareness for causes like childhood cancer. 
In April, ACCO received a letter in the mail from the 13 year old asking to work together on a fundraiser for her year-long Gifted and Talented class project. Adriana’s teacher gave the 7th graders a selection of five topics to choose from.
The assignment: Out of the five topics, please choose a cause that you find interesting. Research the cause and contact a charity by writing a business letter to them explaining why you find their cause important. Host a fundraiser for community service in their honor and donate the proceeds. The final project will be due at the end of May.
When the topic of disease came up, Adriana thought childhood cancer was the perfect choice.
“I am really interested in diseases and the epidemiology. I wanted to learn more about childhood cancer, specifically because I like to learn more about cancer and what’s being done to find a cure.”
To raise awareness, Adriana put together a virtual fun-run in her community. She set up the website, collected runners’ information and organized swag distribution meetings. She shared it all around her community and was successful in collecting more than $200 in donations between 12 runners.
“Most of the information I got was from ACCO, especially the types of childhood cancer and international statistics. I chose ACCO because I found that it was part of Childhood Cancer International. Since I am interested in educating the poor in third world countries, this cause really stood out to me,” Adriana told ACCO.
“Adriana is a dedicated girl. She loves what she does – she gets so committed, it scares me. She doesn’t care if she practices [her viola] for three hours, she will do it until she gets it.” She picked up the viola in the 6th grade and started in the symphony ensemble and has quickly made her way to the orchestra ensemble,” Jacsy, Adriana’s mother said.
When Adriana was just two years old, her family immigrated to the United States. Shortly after moving, Jacsy was diagnosed with breast cancer. “It was the last day of second grade when I was diagnosed.” Three months after Jacsy’s diagnosis, Hurricane Harvey wiped out their first floor apartment and car. The family was left with nothing.
During Jacsy’s treatment, she wasn’t very active, and in 2021, Adriana was determined to change that. Pre-diagnosis, Jacsy was a marathoner who enjoyed running. When Adriana decided she wanted to join the cross country team, she saw that as an opportunity to encourage her mother to train with her so they could get in shape together. Her mother couldn’t have been more proud.
“Cancer was an easy decision [for Adriana] to choose for the project because of my diagnosis. She never left my side during treatment. She loves kids and always wants to help them.”
Adriana has high hopes for her future and possesses the drive to get her there. She plans to learn computer programming and wants to become an architect when she grows up. She is spending her summer in a swim camp and looks forward to her 8th grade year. Adriana plans on hosting another fundraiser for ACCO and has her sights set on attending Harvard in the future.
Interested in hosting your own GO GOLD® fundraiser like Adriana? Contact Blair today at bscroggs@acco.org or learn more here.