Good Counsel’s Golden Hour Event occurred on March 1st for its second year. It brought the attention of childhood cancer to the community while providing students with information on its range of treatment, age groups, and types and supporting non-profit foundations. Listening to guest speakers with family experiences, organizing entertainment & essential bags for the children, and honoring Madison Smith ’25, Golden Hour gave students a focused look at child cancer behind the scenes and how it can affect one’s life before and even after treatment.

During the guest speeches, most students were able to correctly identify the ribbon color of other cancers, such as breast cancer, but were unable to think of the color of child cancer. The realization of unawareness allowed the guest speakers to provide the necessary information about childhood cancer. As stated by St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, approximately 400,000 children around the globe are diagnosed with some form of childhood cancer, with 28 percent of childhood cancers diagnosed as leukemia. With increased public awareness of treatments such as radiotherapy, newly created medications, and diet changes, many ways exist to prevent or battle childhood cancer. 

Speaking with a few of the event’s organizers, Mrs. Hanson and Mrs. Wickard, provided greater insight into the event. Below, are some of their thoughts.

What about the event spoke to you?

The conversations from the staff and the families who went through similar situations have really spoken to us and were emotional while spreading awareness. 

Was this what you expected? 

We had so many people that people were begging us to come to the event prior to the application which we think is amazing. 

How long have you been setting up the event? 

We have been setting up for this event since September and have been meeting monthly until recently where we started to meet more frequently such as weekly.

What has changed from the last golden hour?

The amount of willing students who aren’t just coming for the SSL hours and how fast this event fills up because they have had an experience of Golden Hour is wonderful.

Based on their replies, one can conclude that this year was a big success and the students were an critical part of that success.

Speaking of the students, below are the thoughts of two Good Counsel students, Ramsey Potur ’25 and Aiden Potter ’25.

What did you expect going into the event?

We didn’t realize how many emotions you can experience at Golden Hour. With the conversations from parents, to helping support child cancer patients, and enjoying ourselves after it all allowed us to have a fully immersive experience.

What about the event ending up speaking out to you?

The conversations that we listened to really were informative but really were emotional and made us remember not to take things for granted. The parents and staff allowed us to not take things for granted and be fortunate for where we are and how we are doing.

What was your favorite part of the event?

The games and dancing we shared after the event ended was one of our favorite parts, being able to be with everyone and seeing other people after having all of those serious conversations was so relieving and even reassuring.

What was your takeaway from the event?

As we said before, not taking things for granted was our true takeaway from the event. It was a great eye opener and allowed us to feel more comfortable in a lot of different ways such as support from our families, viable treatments and upcoming treatments, and who we have within our lives.

All in all, the second Golden Hour was a huge success for all who participated.  Bring on Golden Hour #3!

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Resources

• St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital. (n.d.). Childhood Cancer Facts. St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital. https://www.stjude.org/treatment/pediatric-oncology/childhood-cancer-facts.html#:~:text=An%20estimated%20400%2C000%20children%20around,past%20infancy%20for%20U.S.%20children.