Seniors from the Lampeter-Strasburg High School (LSHS) girls' lacrosse team gave a donation to the Ann B. Barshinger Cancer Institute in Lancaster.

It is an annual tradition for seniors from the LSHS girls' lacrosse team to choose a charity to support by raising funds. This year, the team collected donations during its charity night at the April 29 game against Manheim Township. After the funds were collected, the team's booster club matched the donation total, explained team member Malaina Baucon.

"We chose to donate here because cancer is a heavy subject and everyone knows someone going through the battle," said team member Riley Dawson.

"We had two alumni pass away from cancer within the past year," stated Jeslyn Krebs, also a member of the team. "We found it important to give back to a local facility because we wanted to help people in our community the best we could."

Also present when the seniors donated the funds was Nikolas Buescher, executive director of the cancer institute. While speaking to the team, Buescher shared his family's history with cancer. "My mother was diagnosed with breast cancer when I was in fourth grade, and she passed away when I was in college," said Buescher. "Her mother had breast cancer, and my dad's mother had leukemia. It's in my family, so this institute and this donation is very important to me."

Buescher informed those present that Lancaster set a world record by raising half of the money for the cancer institute's building. "There hasn't been any type of philanthropy where a community of this size has raised that amount of money," stated Buescher. "We wouldn't be here and be able to offer the care we do without the support of the community."

On the other side of the Ann B. Barshinger building, there is a new construction project that is part of the institute's proton therapy project. "We're using hydrogen ions to treat cancer, and we will be one of the first in the country to do that," explained Buescher. This summer, the institute plans to invite science teachers from local schools to show them the particle accelerator.

For more information about the Ann B. Barshinger Cancer Institute, visit http://bit.ly/Barshinger.