BY MELISSA CIFELLI
Staff Writer
SOUTH BRUNSWICK — They’ll be raising money for a cure and having fun doing it.
Students at Crossroads North Middle School will participate in the third annual Volley for Life tournament on Friday.
The seven-hour volleyball tournament will help raise funds for the Cancer Institute of New Jersey. Money raised will go toward research, treatment and education programs at the Cancer Institute.
Students who gather pledges and sponsors will raise money per game in the tournament.
Last year’s tournament helped raise $5,000, a goal the event’s organizers and participants are trying to surpass, said Beth Gross, the assistant director of funding at the Cancer Institute.
Gross, who helped coordinate the event as school liaison, said the tournament was more than just an important fund-raiser for the Cancer Institute. The tournament teaches students about philanthropy while helping to spread awareness of cancer and Cancer Institute, she said.
The Volley for Life tournament is one of several programs the Cancer Institute uses to raise funds in schools across New Jersey.
In Quarters for the Cure, now running in 80 schools, students raise money by filling water jugs with quarters. The classes with the most quarters win prizes.
Crossroads North’s seventh- and eighth-graders will participate in Friday’s event, which will begin at 3 p.m.