As Alex Baron studies for finals, the junior at the University at Albany thinks about buying cards to hang in the dormitory showers that demonstrate self-exams for testicular and breast cancer.
And even with a busy summer of courses in his path, Baron is already talking about next year's Relay for Life, a fundraiser for the American Cancer Society.
The 20-year-old history major has always been the kind of kid who looked for a cause or an organization to join.
In high school, somewhere in the middle of swimming, golf and soccer seasons, and between practices for mock trial and model Congress, Baron raised money for charity with the Key Club.
But at age 15, doctors told him he had testicular cancer. The kid who always looked for a new cause to join found one that would overtake all the others.
“I understand the importance of getting money for research, of getting money for patient services,” Baron said.
For the last two years, Baron has organized UAlbany's Relay for Life, an overnight walking or running relay. In March, 800 UAlbany students, staff members, friends and family packed the RAC Arena, and collected about $60,000 for the American Cancer Society.
Although towns and cities have held relays for as long as 20 years, colleges have started hosting them as well. They now contribute about one-third of all money raised through the events, said Karen Carpenter-Palumbo, vice president of the American Cancer Society for the Capital Region.
Union College in Schenectady kicked off the first one in the Capital Region in 2003, according to the society. The next year, Union, Siena College and The College of Saint Rose raised $24,700 between their three relays. So far this year, college students in this area have raised $261,000 for the American Cancer Society, including Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute which collected $120,000 in its first relay. The next college-sponsored relay, at Union College, begins May 19.
“Not only have some of their peers been affected by cancer, but all of them have a mother, an aunt or an uncle that has been affected by cancer, and they're activists,” Carpenter-Palumbo said. “They want to do something about it.”
Baron's diagnosis came when he injured his groin after being hit by a soccer ball during a game. He had some lingering pain from the injury, the result of a hematoma, or collection of blood in the body. But tests revealed more than that.
Days later, doctors removed a testicular tumor and said he wouldn't require further treatment. Within a couple months, Baron, who grew up in Rockland County, began collecting pledges for his hometown Relay for Life.
The event made him feel part of a new community, he said. He was a survivor. People were there for him, and now he wanted to do what he could to help others.
“He had a tremendous amount of support from his family, and a tremendous amount of support from his friends, and I think that made him feel very comfortable about the cancer, and it made him feel like he could talk about it,” said his father, Steve Baron, who now helps organize the Relay for Life in Rockland County. “I don't know if it's a kind of therapy for him, but it's very, very important to him to talk about it.”
The next year, Alex Baron became the Rockland relay's youth chair, encouraging other high school kids to get involved.
And not long after he arrived at UAlbany, he asked the American Cancer Society how he could start a relay on campus. He needed a sponsor organization, so even though he was only a freshman at the time, he founded Students of Albany Against Cancer. In addition to holding the relays, the group volunteers with the American Cancer Society and Gilda's Club, a cancer-support organization with an office in Latham.
Before he moves on to get his graduate degree in teaching, Baron wants to make sure he's trained another student to continue the relay efforts. It's the kind of thing that should keep going, he said, because a new crop of participants arriving on campus each year should keep the event from going stale.
As for Baron, there's only one way he'll give up his cause.
“Once we find a cure, that's the only thing I can think of that would stop me in this fight.”
Jennifer Gish can be reached at 454-5089 or by e-mail at jgish@timesunion.com.
Alex Baron
Age: 20
Diagnosis: Testicular cancer at age 15. Celebrated five years without cancer in November.
Successes: Has become an advocate for cancer screenings and raises money for cancer research, treatment and patient services. As a freshman at the University at Albany, he founded Students of Albany Against Cancer. Now a junior, Baron has organized two Relay for Life fundraisers at the school, collecting about $90,000 for the American Cancer Society.
Going the distance
Several Relay for Life events will be held in the Capital Region in the coming months. For more information on these American Cancer Society fundraisers, call (800) ACS-2345 or visit http://www.cancer.org:
Friday and Saturday: Union College (registration begins at 6 p.m.)
Friday and Saturday, June 2 and 3: Shenendehowa Central School District, Clayton A. Bouton Jr./Sr. High School in Voorheesville (registration begins at 2:30 p.m.), Veterans Memorial Stadium at Green Island (registration begins at 6 p.m.)
Friday and Saturday, June 9 and 10: South Colonie Central High School (registration begins at 6 p.m.), Greenwich Central School District, East Side Recreational Field in Saratoga Springs (registration begins at 6 p.m.)
Friday and Saturday, June 16 and 17: Scotia-Glenville High School, Troy High School (registration begins 6 p.m.), Columbia Greene Community College (registration begins at 5 p.m.)
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