Students in Lexington County School District 1 are partnering with Cancer of Many Colors to raise funds for cancer research.

The students are part of the Students in Action (SIA) program at Lexington High School. SIA is a Chapter of the South Carolina Multiplying Good Organization which emphasizes Service, Leadership and Recognition.

4 years ago, 70% of the students and staff reported being affected by cancer in some way. They discovered that 42% of cancer patients exhaust their life savings in the 1st 2 years of their treatment.

That is when they reached out to Cancer of Many Colors to create a partnership. COMC is a local non-profit that assists cancer patients with paying for living expenses during their treatments. They call it Linking Lexington.

The group started selling paper chain links at football games and raised $750. Since then, other schools have joined in. Last year they raised $12,785.

All funds go to Cancer of many Colors. At the end of each year the links from all the schools and Central Services will be put together to form a long chain.

During Linking Lexington 2020, they are selling links, neck gaiters and masks from participating schools: Carolina Springs, Lake Murray, Lexington, Meadow Glen, Midway, New Providence, Pelion, Red Bank and Rocky Creek elementaries; Beachwood, Pleasant Hill and White Knoll middle schools; Gilbert, Lexington and River Bluff high schools, Lexington Technology and District 1 Central Services.

12 local businesses have also joined the effort and more are encouraged to join. They are Carolina Property Solutions, CMC Commercial Metals, First Baptist Church of Lexington, Freebird, Lake Homes Realty, Gail Barnett, Little Johnny LLC, Metta Marine, Murphy Contracting Inc, Nirvana Nutrition, Palmetto Roots Salon, Thrivent Financial, The Hyatt Agency, and Three Guys General Maintenance.

The community is also invited to participate by buying the items at the schools listed above.

For more on Cancer of Many Colors and how you can get involved visit https://cancerofmanycolors.com/ .