Liberty’s National Honor Society, Varsity Boys Soccer, and the Lancer community came together on Tuesday, Sept. 16 to support a cause very close to the heart of Liberty. The “Yellow Out” at the soccer game stood up to childhood cancer and supported middle school student, David Lupo.
David Lupo is a sixth grader at Timberview Middle School and is the son to Courtney Lupo, the Liberty record-keeper. David is currently fighting the battle against a rare form of brain cancer, Diffuse Midline Glioma, a grade 4 brain tumor, and will receive treatment in the form of a clinical trial.
Courtney Lupo explained, “There is no cure, and chemo is not effective. Treatment options are very limited and not focused on a cure. That’s why this clinical trial means everything to us — it’s our only real chance at hope.”
ChadTough DIPG Navigators is receiving half of the funds from these events, an organization that has supported and will support the Lupo family through their process of the clinical trial in October. In doing so, the fundraiser will help to support a number of other children with a similar diagnosis.
As September is Childhood Cancer Awareness month, many of the next two week’s events will be in support of David and the more than 400,000 children affected by cancer each year. These “Hope for David- Childhood Cancer Awareness Nights” will be a variety of sports events that include David as a part of the team and will have opportunities for the community to donate to childhood cancer research.
A substantial aspect of these events is the incorporation of David into the comradery of each of the teams. The volleyball team will welcome him as a guest coach, softball’s first pitch will be made by David, and the Homecoming Friday night football game will include David as an honorary captain and coin toss caller.
Yellow Out Events:
- Boys soccer against Falcon, 7 p.m. at the D20 Stadium
- Girls volleyball against Rampart, 7 p.m. in the gymnasium
- Boys football against Rangeview (Homecoming game), 7 p.m. in the D20 Stadium
- Girls softball against Doherty, 3:30 p.m. at the upper softball field
At the soccer game, Lupo was welcomed by the team as an honorary captain. He joined the boys in a 3-0 victory over Falcon as the team’s “twelfth man” on the pitch.
He participated in many of the team’s pre-game routines, such as wearing the captain’s band, being included in the starting line up introductions, throwing a shirt to the crowd and gathering game balls for the match. His highlights, however, were meeting the refs, who were also dressed in yellow, and receiving high fives from the whole team every time a goal was scored.
Admittedly, Lupo explained how David was slightly nervous about the events. David not only found excitement in being a part of the atmosphere, but also in looking forward to raising awareness for other children in the same situation. “He doesn’t believe what he’s going through is “that hard.” That’s just who he is, incredibly strong and selfless. But once he went to his first event, the Yellow Out Soccer game, he had the most amazing time,” said Lupo.
The soccer game was especially valuable to be a part of for David as he has been a part of soccer programs for five years previously and is something he is passionate about. “At one point he said, ‘I hope one day I get to play soccer for Liberty,’” Lupo said.
The soccer team noted that they felt as though the cause was a motivating factor for their win. Senior soccer player, Brodie Smith, said, “I believe that it made us want to play better and play for a better cause than what we were already playing for.”
Smith further added how the team included David. They welcomed him to the team with open arms and through doing so, hopefully eliminated some of the nerves he was feeling before arriving at the stadium.
The Lupo family spoke highly about the lasting impact that the players made and the memories they helped David form for the game; “It was genuine, not staged, just a group of incredible young men lifting up a kid they had never met.”
The National Honor Society hosted the fundraising aspect of the event and made up the majority of the student section. They supported the cause by working for weeks to create the online advertisements, posters and decorations to gather the most amount of students at the event.
The students ran the tables in front of the stadium and went around the bleachers with yellow buckets to collect donations from the students and parents. Additionally NHS was a huge part of the lively atmosphere in leading the student section in cheering for the game.
Zoe Stanley, the junior vice president of NHS, noted how valuable the positive participation in the event was for the club and the community. The success of the night was due to the way the club gained the student’s attention in order to get “More people showed up because they knew the details of the events, and they were ready to support the cause,” as Stanley explained.
She expanded into acknowledging how widespread cancer is especially and is especially impactful of a disease in adolescence. Stanley described the prominence of the cause; “Donating or just showing up to support the cause also shows great leadership and compassion, and those are skills that are so vital to possess later in life.”
Lupo stated her appreciation for the students and teacher representatives, such as Mrs. Gaughan, Mrs. Martinez, and Mr. Giovannone. “I’m honestly in awe. Seeing so much yellow that night was overwhelming in the best way. Words can’t capture the weight of it. For us, it means we’re not alone. It means when the days feel unbearable, we know the entire Lancer community is behind us,” Lupo said.
