Commentary—

When The Call Goes Out,

Newtown Answers ‘Anything You Need’

By Guy M. Russo

I write this as part co-chair of this past weekend’s Relay For Life of Newtown, part husband, part parent, and part son of a man who lost his life to cancer over eight years ago. As a person who works in the business world, I am so often focused on financial success, but this year’s event was a great accomplishment in so many more ways. I want to express my thanks.

Let’s start with the co-chairs. You often hear a husband refer to his wife as his “better half.”  With regard to Relay, Helen Benson and my wife, Lynda, were definitely my better two-thirds. While Lynda and I have many more years of working closely together raising our family, this past year will be one of my best memories.

Accomplishments have so much more meaning when you achieve them with friends and loved ones. There are so many committee chairs and members to thank but I won’t thank them by name. After all, if you knew these people as well as we have gotten to know them, they are in it for everything except the recognition. More importantly, our participants are the heart of our event.  They bring the energy to Relay along with an abundance of fundraising dollars. Our collective lack of sleep this past weekend was a small price to pay for enough money to cover two more three-year research grants.

As a husband, I am continually amazed at the amount of commitment and energy that my wife, Lynda, brings to all she takes on. Relay is no exception. Working in the venture capital business, I have the opportunity to work with and meet some of the world’s brightest and successful people. As far as getting the job done, I can’t think of anyone I would take ahead of her. My kids are in good hands when I pull out of the driveway to head for work everyday.

As a parent, I can not imagine a better place to raise our children than Newtown. “Anything you need” is the phrase we hear over and over again; whether it’s Dominic Posca’s staff, the Parks and Recreation Department, or so many local businesses. Every year our children’s teachers are involved with a team, teaching them far more than they could ever learn from a textbook. We even have a newspaper named after a stinging insect that knows how to get the “buzz” going about an important event like Relay.

There is so much in this world that divides people: religion, politics, baseball teams, etc. Isn’t it great to see so many people with diverse backgrounds working together for a common cause? Finally, I couldn’t be prouder of our children; Haley, Mitchell, and Lauren, all members of the $1k club for fundraising. That’s why we call Relay our family business.

Last but not least, as a son of a man who lost his life to lung cancer two days before Christmas in 1997. As he was facing death, I remember him having a conversation with my oldest daughter the night before she was to undergo hernia surgery. He told her, “You have to be brave.” He sure was. But most of his lessons were not from words; they were by example. Like all parents, my mother and father wanted a better life for their children. They preached hard work and education as the path. Thanks to their lessons I have the skills and means to contribute to the fight against cancer. I too want a better life for my children; a world without cancer.

I have met so many people during my involvement with the American Cancer Society that continue to inspire me. I have watched mothers and daughters embracing on our high school track, consoling each other during our luminaria ceremony; Gord Lang walking 100 miles in a 24-hour period in support of his friend’s wife who is battling breast cancer; the Zarifis family, our first honorary chairs back again at our event with Jimmy in good health; Jack DeFlumeri, our second honorary chair, watching his daughter, Hannah, with pride as she sang at our opening ceremony; and our 2006 honorary chair, George Arfaris, standing together with his family that may never have been had his wife Irene not been brave enough to try an experimental treatment for her cancer many years ago.

In a world where we struggle to find inspiration from our bosses at work or our political leaders, I invite you to join our cause. I guarantee this inspiration will spill over to the other areas of you life and lead you to become a better student, worker, spouse, or parent.

Finally, I know there are so many others in our community that have the means and skills to make a difference. I will not rest until I have convinced every single one of you to get involved.