Wind Beneath Her Whip

Young woman inspires cancer awareness
through local Relay For Life and a national honor.

SHELLI LIEBMAN DORFMAN

StaffWriter

W

hile more than 100 family
members and friends of
Alex Graham were mak-
ing plans to participate
next weekend in a local relay event in
her memory, word came that a video she
helped create was an award winner.
Both happenings show the good
coming from her shortened life. Alex,
just 17 when she died of osteogenic sar-
coma on Jan. 25, 1999, hoped to inspire
others to be compassionate and giving,
and encourage sensitivity to those with
cancer.
The West Bloomfield Relay for Life,
a non-athletic event sponsored by the
American Cancer Society, "began
because of Alex," explains Cynthia
Hefke, community development direc-
tor for the ACS-Great Lakes Division in
Southfield. Alex had requested that after
she died, if friends and family wanted to
honor her memory, they should do so
by helping others. Part of that legacy
became the organization of last year's
West Bloomfield Relay for Life, which
brought 600 participants and raised
$80,000 for cancer research, prevention
and community programming.
Susie Graham of West Bloomfield
says her daughter's friends, now attend-
ing various colleges, are forming a relay
team for this year's event, Saturday and

Sunday, June 17 and 18, at West
Bloomfield High School's athletic field.
"This will be one of those rare
moments when Michigan and Michigan
State are on the same team," Graham
says.
A "Luminary Ceremony" will be held
at dusk on the Saturday evening of the
relay, with the group lighting candles
purchased in memory or in honor of
someone whose life has been touched by
cancer.
Alex's relationship with other cancer
patients was the impetus for the creation
of the award-winning video, which took
a first-place Telly Award, a national cre-
ative award, in the category of public
service television.
Prompted by uncomfortable looks
she and fellow patients from the
William Beaumont Hospital Rose
Cancer Center in Royal Oak received on
their outing to Cedar Point Amusement
Park, Alex asked Make-A-Wish
Foundation of Michigan to grant her
wish of producing a public-service video
to raise sensitivity to their feelings.
To the background music of Bette
Midler's hit "Wind Beneath My
Wings," the 'Alex's Wish" video shows a
number of her friends. The video's mes-
sage is not to stare at people who look
different due to the effects of cancer
treatment, but rather to greet them with
smiles.
Among those donating time and ser-

vices in the production of the video was
Jim Berline, chairman of the Berline
Group advertising agency in Bloomfield
Hills. He accepted the Telly Award.
Berline maintains that Alex, who
helped edit the video, also "played an
important part in writing the script. Her
words are what we hear."

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2000

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