Making a difference
Butler High School seniors Anna Baxter and Paige Williams didn't hold back on setting a lofty goal.
They wanted to raise $10,000 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society this school year.
“Honestly, our parents didn't think we could reach it,” Williams said. “We had a plan and thought we could reach $10,000.”
When they did, the pair who have been best friends since as Williams put it “we were born,” set another big goal.
“We thought we could raise $13,000,” Williams said.
They blew past that.
Another goal.
“We wanted to raise $15,000,” Williams said.
Last Wednesday, Baxter and Williams found out they had raised $15,989 for LLS. They pair also received the Community/Citizenship Award from the organization.
“It just shows that with all the bad media right now there's some good that's getting recognized as well,” Williams said.
Both Baxter and Williams have close, personal reasons to want to raise money to fight cancer.
Baxter's grandfather died of leukemia.
“Almost the whole time I knew him he had cancer,” Baxter said.
Baxter's great uncle, Rich Saul, died in 2012 after a nine-year battle with leukemia.
Saul played 11 years in the NFL as an offensive lineman with the Los Angeles Rams, appeared in six Pro Bowls and played against the Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl XIV.
His brother, Bill Saul, also played in the NFL and also died of cancer in 2006.Williams' grandmother died of pancreatic cancer.“LLS is looking to treat all forms of cancer,” Williams said, “from brain to breast to anything you can think of. That's important to recognize. Hopefully this will lead us to a world without cancer.”Their fundraising efforts were hampered a bit this spring by the coronavirus pandemic.They had to cancel several dine-and-donate events, but still found a way to raise money.“(COVID-19) has been a financial burden on everyone I know,” Williams said. “It was hard to ask people for money during this time. Auctions were great ways to raise money during this because you're getting something back.“I think it was a shock we made it this far,” Williams added. “I'm proud of the whole group.”In all, high school students in western and southwestern Pennsylvania as well as West Virginia raised $242,537.“That's a big impact made by high school students in this local area,” Williams said.Both Baxter and Williams are standout athletes at Butler.Baxter will run track at Duquesne University next fall and Williams will dive for the Westminster College women's swimming team next winter.The senior hurdler had her spring track and field season wiped out by the coronavirus.Baxter had some big goals, like gunning for the school records in the 100- and 300-meter hurdles and helping the Golden Tornado girls track and field to win a fourth consecutive WPIAL team title.
But Baxter took it all in stride — thanks to the help from famous, fictitious movie character.“I have a Rocky Balboa canvas that I'm going to hang on the ceiling in my dorm room (at Duquesne),” Baxter said. “It's not about how hard you get hit, but how hard you get hit and keep moving forward. Whatever is thrown our way, this has proven we can handle it. All of the seniors in our school district and around here has handled it with grace.”Baxter also received the Thomas E. Paserba Memorial Scholarship handed out by the Butler school district.It is given to a track and field athlete who also shows a commitment to the community.“I never knew Mr. Paserba personally,” Baxter said. “I'm very humbled to receive this award.”Baxter plans to going into the medical field and also volunteers at Butler Memorial Hospital.“I think it's really important from a young age to volunteer in the community and give more than you receive,” she said.Williams began diving in the eighth grade when back injury forced her to give up gymnastics.Another back injury suffered in an automobile accident in 2018 threatened that, too, but she recovered. She narrowly missed setting a diving record at Butler this winter.“It turned into a positive for me,” Williams said.Now, Williams is excited to begin the next chapter of her diving career at Westminster.“I looked around a bit and I really wanted to dive,” Williams said.It also helped that Butler graduate Heath Calhoun is the diving coach at Westminster.“He coached me as a diver and they offered the major I wanted (finance),” Williams said. “It was a wonderful fit.”
