Palmer Trinity School students Olivia Bacardi, Attie Crews, Callie Crews, and Megan Keller are making a significant impact in the effort to prevent melanoma, the most serious type of skin cancer — and it all started with a bracelet.
“When my mother was diagnosed with melanoma, we wanted to come up with a way to help educate people our age about protecting themselves from one of the most preventable cancers,” said Attie Crews. “So we created a bracelet with a bead that changes color when exposed to UV rays and it acts as a reminder to put on sunscreen.”
Crews’ mother is a patient of Lynn G. Feun, M.D., co-leader of Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center’s Melanoma Site Disease Group. After learning about the discoveries happening at Sylvester, the girls launched a non-profit organization called One Change in January 2018 and started selling their bracelets to raise both money and awareness for melanoma research. “We want our funds to drive breakthrough research,” said Bacardi.
The One Change team devotes weekends and school holidays toward their project, fitting the beading of their bracelets in with a packed schedule of schoolwork and extracurricular activities. On December 18, 2019, they presented Sylvester physicians with a check for $7,500, bringing their total to date to $30,000 to support leading-edge research.
“The One Change team serves as a true inspiration for how even a small group can motivate so many to give to a worthy cause,” said Dr. Feun. “Their continued support helps us improve the quality of patient care, while increasing survival rates for patients with advanced melanoma.”
