EDITORIAL
There’s an old saying that someone never stands taller than when they stoop over to help a child.
Given those parameters, people in the Rockdale area and northern Lee County are about 10 feet tall this month.
Rockdale and Lexington fans—and a ton more to be sure—raised an astonishing almost $70,000 a couple of weekends ago in the annual “Gold Out” effort at the Tiger-Eagle came in Taylor.
That almost equals the total raised in the previous three Gold Outs combined.
That first year Gold Out spread all over Central Texas and was observed by school districts from Wichita Falls to Van Vleck.
It is estimated over 15,000 children (defined as those under 21) are diagnosed with cancer every year.
One out of every five will not survive. That’s an 80 percent survival rate, and that’s wonderful, but it doesn’t mean a whole lot if your family is in that other 20 percent.
Treatment advances are moving the needle in the right direction. Mortality rates for many types of childhood cancer have declined by more than 50 percent over the past 30 years.
But cancer is still the second leading cause of death, after motor vehicle accidents, for children ages 5-14.
What is Gold Out about? Last week’s Reporter front page had a photo of four youngsters walking off the field with four Tiger players. Three of those youngsters, thankfully, are in remission.
The fourth was representing his brother who sadly, was one of the 20 percent, passing away in 2014.
Gold Out is about making that 20 percent zero percent.—M.B.
- Log in or Subscribe to post comments.