Riverhead tween raises hundreds for breast cancer research

Her 12th birthday is three days away, but Kayla Reitz is wise and self-sacrificing beyond her years.

For the second year in a row, Kayla, a 7th-grader in Riverhead Middle School, has raised and donated hundreds of dollars toward breast cancer research by making and selling colorful rubber band bracelets. Many of the bracelets, all made on a plastic loom, were custom orders, others were her own design she said.

Inspired last year by an aunt stricken with the disease, and other women friends and relatives who suffered from it, Kayla turned her hobby of making the bracelets into a fundraiser last year. It was completely Kayla’s idea said her mother Shannon Reitz.

This year her mother’s friend Pam Erlandsom contributed a handmade pink afghan that Kayla raffled off for $10 a chance in addition to selling the bracelets. In all, over the course of a month, Kayla raised $800 this year, nearly matching the $1000 she raised last year.

Kayla says that the more research she did the more she was inspired to continue raising money for the cause this year. “I hope we can cure it, and by raising money for it, I hope we can help prevent people from getting the disease,” she said, with optimism noticeable in her soft-spoken words.

“I’m unbelievably proud of her. She came up with this on her own last year. And she’s even more excited and has bigger things planned for next year,” said Shannon. “She’s a rare gem,” she continued with unabashed admiration for her daughter.

Kayla publicized her event by making and distributing flyers to her neighbors, her classmates and to her mother’s co-workers. The response was great, she said. People began donating by mail even before the sale date. Her friends came to the sale to purchase items and the whole neighborhood turned out as well. All the money she made this year, she gave to the North Fork Breast Health Coalition.

The NFBHC supplied informational flyers and brochures that Kayla gave out at the sale.

Shannon Reitz, was quick to point out that the publicity is nice, but getting the word out about the work and help the North Fork Breast Health Coalition does is really important. “The coalition has been a tremendous support system in the community,” Reitz said, “and not enough people know about what it does. We’re trying to raise awareness of its existence.”