From left are Regan Honeycutt of Colon Cancer Alliance, Nicole Sheehan of Colon Cancer Alliance, Tammy Sickels (Sam’s aunt), Michelle Benaim (Sam’s mom), Sam Benaim, Michael Sapienza (CEO, Colon Cancer Alliance), Avi Benaim (Sam’s dad). In front is Pamela Sorensen, founder of Pamela’s Punch and Colon Cancer Alliance board member) with her dog Frasier Simone. Photo Contributed
Seventh-grader Sam Benaim didn’t know a lot about colon cancer until his mom, Michelle was diagnosed with Stage 4 colon cancer. Life as the family had previously known it totally changed to focus on supporting Michelle Benaim in her fight.
“The good news is that after surgery, a long hospitalization and 12 rounds of chemo, I am on the road to recovery,” Michelle Benaim said.
After pondering how he could truly help his mom, Sam came up with the idea of holding an Afterschool Carnival at their Potomac home to raise funds for The Colon Cancer Alliance (CCA). "My mom was diagnosed with colon cancer in August. It has been hard since my mom has been in chemo — mainly because she does everything for me and my brother and sister. I have seen my mom chair carnivals and festivals all my life and I wanted to be able to do something that is fun for my Bar Mitzvah charity project,” Sam said. “I am lucky my uncle Bob Sickels owns Kids After Hours and is an expert at carnivals. I decided that something simple in our yard would be fun and Colon Cancer was an obvious choice for my charity."
Sam enlisted the help of his brother and sister, Alex and Sophia, and the three went into action, inviting their friends from Bullis, Hoover, Churchill and Potomac Elementary, putting up posters at Bullis and Potomac Elementary, sending out flyers, and posting on Facebook, Snapchat and Instagram — inviting all their friends and neighbors to the event.
Almost 300 neighbors, friends, teachers, school staff and even some of Michelle Benaim’s friends from her high school years at Churchill High School came together on April 15 to volunteer and support the cause. “Through the donations of very generous friends, the sale of food and a raffle — we raised more than $15,000 for research to cure colon cancer,” Michelle Benaim said.
Michael Sapienza CEO of CCA; Regan Honeycutt, CCA director of Individual Giving; Nicole Sheehan, CCA vice president of Development and Pamela Sorensen, founder of Pamela’s Punch and CCA board member also attended.
Kids After Hours filled the yard with a multitude of inflatable activities including moon bounces, a giant slide, a jostling ring and an obstacle course. One of the most popular activities was the high climbing wall.
Adam Greenberg of Potomac Pizza donated pizza for the event and Sophia made cupcakes. Michelle Benaim’s husband’s company ABE Network donated a 50-inch television for a raffle prize.
"My friends all helped with food sales and raffle ticket sales. I am lucky to have such great friends who signed up right away when I asked," Michelle Benaim said.
The Benaim family also collected child-safe art supplies and art projects for The Children's Inn at NIH.