Winner Announced-BCAL Service Award

In celebration of its first anniversary engaging in community outreach and advocacy efforts, members of the Bayonne Community Action League (BCAL) recently held a contest recognizing a Bayonne or Jersey City resident who has given back to their community through volunteering, charitable or advocacy awareness.

With numerous nominations submitted, contest committee members have chosen Scarlett Margetanski of Bayonne as BCAL’s First Annual ‘Partners In Progress’ Award winner. In addition to the award, Scarlett has also won four tickets to enjoy an upcoming New York Yankees home game in the Delta SKY360° Suites at Yankees Stadium.

Nominated by Chrissy Andrascik, an event manager for the American Cancer Society’s ‘Relay for Life’ of Bayonne, Scarlett was chosen not only for her strength and resilience as a cancer survivor herself, but for being an inspiration to others through her commitment to raising awareness and support of cancer prevention, detection and research.

We applaud her for her commitment to raising awareness and for serving as a catalyst for hope and optimism, not only in regards to the fight against cancer, but for teaching us all a valuable lesson: to celebrate life regardless the obstacles in our path and to embrace those around us who provide support through both the good and the bad times. 

May God Bless-

Jay

Scarlett Margetanski’s story is one of courage, hope and determination.

Please take a moment to read the excerpt below, taken from Scarlett’s nomination letter.  

 For more information on Relay for Life, or to get involved, call 1-800-ACS-2345, or visit www.RelayForLife.org. 

———————————

To Whom It May Concern:

My name is Chrissy Andrascik and I am the Event Manager for the Relay For Life of Bayonne. ‘Relay For Life’ is the signature event of the American Cancer Society; an overnight celebration of hope, progress and answers. ‘Relay For Life’ is a unique event that raises community awareness of prevention and detection of cancer and of services for those currently battling the disease, while raising much-needed funds in the fight for the cure. ‘Relay For Life’ happens in over 4800 communities across the United States, including roughly 90 events in New Jersey.This is an overnight, team event, whereby teams are formed in honor or in memory of someone who has battled cancer, and they raise funds in advance of the event. The average team raises $2,500 to support American Cancer Society research, education, advocacy and patient services. The money we raise provides education and patient services to those diagnosed with cancer and their families, as well as funds life saving research going on at our area hospitals and universities. It’s called a Relay because team members take turns walking all night, the idea being that one person from every team is walking on the track for the entire duration of the event. At Relay we make a statement that cancer never sleeps, so neither will we.At this year’s event, I had the pleasure of meeting Scarlett Margetanski. Scarlett called me several months ago and told me her story. Scarlett is a cancer survivor. She called me asking if she could tell her story at our 2010 Relay event. Once she told me the ordeal she had been through, I knew her story would touch many and needed to be told. She was diagnosed with a rare childhood cancer at age 10, often referred to as PNET. She was treated with chemo and cobolt radiation and was put into remission. Twenty-three years later, Scarlett’s husband, Daniel, was diagnosed with stage 4 testicular cancer and stage 1 Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma. The Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma had spread to his lungs and spinal fluid surrounding his brain. Scarlett had just been blessed with the adoption of their infant daughter and were determined to beat cancer yet again and go on to raise their daughter, TOGETHER. After being hospitalized for nearly a year and going through high dose chemo, experiencing many complications, Daniel too went into remission. Today he has been cancer free for 10 years. Five years later, in 1999, Scarlett was again diagnosed with cancer, this time bilateral breast cancer. She underwent a bilateral mastectomy with immediate reconstruction followed by a complete hysterectomy. Shortly after, she was experiencing blackouts. After an MRI of her brain, she was diagnosed with breast cancer metastasis to the spinal fluid in her brain. She was told she had 30 days to live. It is now 2010 and Scarlett is still battling this dreadful disease. She beat the odds so many times and always refused to give up. Scarlett is an inspiration…a truly remarkable woman. Scarlett is a survivor 

Scarlett puts herself completely into everything she does…whether it be going through law school, working to adopt her beautiful daughter or fighting cancer. Well, being part of the Relay For Life was no different. That phone call she made to me was just the first of many over the course of the Relay season. Scarlett formed a team, ‘Scarlett Fever’, and met with the team members regularly. She set a goal to raise $10,000 and motivated her team to do everything they could to get them there. She attended our monthly Team Captain meetings and then went home and relayed the information she learned to her team. She encouraged them to do different fundraisers. They stood in the street canning many, many times. They sent emails, promoted their mission on Facebook, and asked family and friends to support them. And they did it. Scarlett and her team have raised a total of $12,684 and are STILL fundraising! 

Scarlett stood on stage during our Opening Ceremonies and told her story and I watched other survivors sit and listen and nod their heads as they listened. She had gone through Chemo they day before the event and wasn’t feeling 100%, but that didn’t stop her. It seems like nothing stops her. 

You can’t miss Scarlett in a crowd. The reason is that she wears a neon red wig. She has a whole collection of different colored neon wigs. She calls it her ‘change your perspective collection’. She ended her speech inviting everyone over to her campsite to try on her wigs and walk the track in them to change their perspectives as well. And they did. At any given moment you would see neon colored heads roaming the event. And the people wearing them were smiling. It was an amazing sight. 

Scarlett has many reasons to be bitter or angry or sad…and I’m sure she has her moments…but she has those moments and then gets past them and throws herself into another project. I am grateful that she chose the ‘Relay For Life’ of Bayonne as one of her ways to fight back against this awful disease. I consider myself lucky to have met her and privileged to have worked with her. She was a phenomenal Team Captain and is a remarkable woman. She deserves to be chosen for the Partners In Progress Award and I hope that she wins. Writing this essay for her was a small task compared to what she has done for me…she has changed the way I look at many things. She has confirmed to me the fight people have in them, the drive, the dedication, the will… 

People often ask me why I chose this profession…why I chose a job where I have to work nights and weekends…where I have to stay up for over 24 hours at a time…this is why…because of people like Scarlett. I chose this job because I wanted to help people…little did I know, they would be helping me too.