Rally, an organization based in Atlanta, raises research money and awareness for childhood cancer. In schools around Georgia, such as NC and Harrison High School, student-run clubs work with Rally in order to raise awareness in the surrounding communities.

Senior Cierra Walsh joined Rally her freshman year but ended up taking control after the club went on a hiatus her sophomore year.

“I think it is important to have a Rally club here at NC because people do not understand how big of an issue childhood cancer is. I had cancer, but I don’t do this for me; I do this for the friends I have made who have not gotten a chance to survive or live to see a cure and better treatment,” Walsh said.

Rally focuses their efforts during September— childhood cancer awareness month. They fundraise every year by selling shirts, collecting change, and hosting percent nights at participating restaurants. They recently worked with Zoyo to hold a percent night, where a portion of the money from the night went toward Rally when the customer mentioned North Cobb in their purchase.

The club also sold gold t-shirts at lunch and at the Gold Out game, which happens every year in support of childhood cancer awareness. Students at the game received Rally stickers, and both the NC football team and Pebblebrook football team wore the stickers on their helmets.

Although the club raised money at games in the past, this marks the first year Rally received a game theme specifically for them. The gold out celebration represents the childhood cancer awareness color, and students showed up in gold and yellow colored clothing. The gold out game means everything to Rally, as they do not get much recognition from the school, and the game showcases the hard work they put in this year.

Beyond this year, Rally plans to grow in order to inform people about the importance of Rally. They take inspiration from schools with larger clubs and work toward holding more percent nights. They want to expand into larger organizations and charities that work year round and not only in September. They also want to break the stereotype that cancer just affects older people, when in reality, according to Cure Search, 43 children get diagnosed with cancer every day.

As a high school club, Rally hopes that, after the gold out game, everyone will realize what the color gold really means.