HARDYSTON -- A group of about 15 people gathered on a beach in Lake Stockholm at noon Saturday to release gold balloons in honor of Childhood Cancer Awareness Month.
Six bags, each containing roughly 10 to 12 balloons, were released. Organizer Patricia DaSilva said this was the first year the Lake Stockholm beach was the site of such an event.
"This was a function that was planned for my family and a bunch of kids who are fighting cancer because it cuts very close to home." said DaSilva, whose 9-year-old son, Nicholas, was diagnosed with Burkitt's lymphoma non-Hodgkins at age 5 in November 2013.
Nicholas, who was in attendance for the balloon release, went into remission in May 2014, but his mother said there are still risks associated with the disease, including potential long-term effects and secondary cancers.
"People think you look good because you have hair and you're OK," DaSilva said. "There's just a lot that goes with it that people don't know, and this is why we're here trying to make people more aware of kids that are battling cancer."
Similar balloon launches took place around the globe on Saturday as part of One Balloon Away Day, which refers to the idea that the world is one balloon away from raising the awareness needed to increase funding for childhood cancer research.
DaSilva said pictures and videos of the scenes will be shown to child cancer patients in the hospital so they will "know that there are people fighting for them and behind them every step of the way."
The launch was held as an awareness event by DaSilva's organization Kid Nicholas Going Gold 4 Kids, part of the Founding Hope Foundation through the American Children's Cancer Organization. DaSilva announced that Amazon partnered with the organization to donate $1 million to the foundation in search of a cure for childhood cancers.
In addition to September being Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, the state Senate has designated the third week of September as "Going Gold for Childhood Cancer Week." The resolution was proposed by state Sen. Steven Oroho, R-24th Dist.
DaSilva believes the public should do more to combat childhood cancer, and she hopes Saturday's balloon launch will motivate community members to get more involved.
"Kids don't have voices," she said. "Parents are the ones that have to speak for them."