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Last month, three young men who have been affected by a loved one who has breast cancer decided they wanted to make a difference in the community.
Since the beginning of February, the three Tyl Middle School students have spearheaded a campaign that has raised more than $2,500 for two local breast cancer charities, the Backus Breast Cancer Survivor Foundation and the Terri Brodeur Breast Cancer Foundation.
Eighth-graders Jake Callaghan, 13, Kevin Doherty, 14, and Mike Kurasz, 13, have coordinated fundraisers at the school. Jake’s grandmother, Kevin’s mother and Mike’s godmother are all breast cancer survivors.  “A lot of people say they support breast cancer, but they have no idea what victims go through,” Kevin said. “There’s a lot more to it.”
On Tuesday, the three spent the day in the cafeteria at The William W. Backus Hospital in Norwich selling baked goods donated by the families of students at the school, as well as T-shirts and bracelets they had printed.

The T-shirts, which say Montville Cares, have the names of 22 local businesses the boys recruited to help sponsor the cause.
“It feels good to let people know that it’s such a serious topic,” Kevin said.
Last week, the students led an educational assembly about breast cancer awareness for the eighth-grade class. The three boys and their family members shared their experiences.
“Most of the kids in our school have had a relative that’s been affected by breast cancer,” Jake said. “Sharing the stories helps them.”
Jake said the goal was to get people talking about it, and to help people locally by raising money.
“We couldn’t have done this, raised so much money, without the school,” Mike said. “I expected it to go to our school, but it’s the whole town that’s involved. We didn’t think it was going to be this big.”
Tyl has officially designated February as breast cancer awareness month at the school.
“For us, educationally, it’s about us supporting students when they want to take an initiative like this,” Principal Mary Jane Dix said. “It’s really about them moving into a leadership role within the school and inspiring their peers to become involved with something beyond their own immediate worlds.”
Karen Doherty, a breast cancer survivor, said she is very proud of her son and his friends.
“It was very touching,” she said. “From the beginning to the end, he’s been very passionate about it.”
School guidance counselor Mark McGuire has helped the boys coordinate the fundraiser. He said he hasn’t seen any efforts by students as big as this in the 11 years he’s worked at Tyl.

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