The Winning Essay
By Fredrick Scarf
Grade Level 12

Angela Bassett and Rufus Bonds, Jr. - 'Mister' in The Color Purple, presented awards to the winning Essay writers. Pictured left to right are: Angela Bassett, Jordan Liss - 2nd place winner, Frederick Scarf - 1st place winner, Denise Lopez - Los Angeles Times, Cecilia Saldana - 3rd place winner, Leticia Aguilar - Bank of America, Rufus Bonds, Jr. - The Color Purple.

I was the first speaker at my best friend's funeral. When I walked up to the podium and saw all of the people in the crowd filled with so much sadness, I knew that I had to do something.

I met Shiri Gumbiner in study hall my freshman year. We soon became best friends and, though she was in a wheelchair and diagnosed with osteosarcoma, there was nothing that we didn't do together. We were troublemakers at Universal Studios; we covered each other's eyes during scary movies; we were always dreaming about the future. We planned to go to Disneyworld and learn
to drive.

Later that spring, the doctors found twelve tumors in Shiri's lungs. Her weight continued to drop despite aggressive treatments. By August, the doctors said she had two weeks to live.

It was a horrifying to know it was only a matter of time before she passed away. I was outraged: it wasn't fair, it wasn't right for someone so young to have her life taken away. When she died the following week, her death was unreal to me. I couldn't accept that I would never see her again. However, when I spoke at her funeral, losing her became a reality. I felt heartbroken and empty, like I was dead, too.

I wanted to take the painful feelings that Shiri's death had inspired and turn them into something beautiful. I wanted to turn this tragedy into hope, into a medical breakthrough, into a cure for all future osteosarcoma patients.

I realized how precious life is and made a choice that changed the direction of my own life.

I started the Shiri Foundation to ultimately find a cure for osteosarcoma. Through reading how-to books, filling out stacks of government forms, applying for 501(c)3 status, writing business plans, and assembling a board of directors, I have kept Shiri's spirit alive. I created a web site (www.shiri.org), published articles about Shiri, and with the help of my board, have raised over $20,000 through donations and sales of T-shirts that read, "I'm fighting bone cancer by wearing this shirt." Last May, the foundation held a prom for teens with life-threatening diseases. I loved seeing all the teens entering shyly, then sitting and laughing and talking. Toward the end they were exchanging MySpace addresses and phone numbers.

As the attendees were coming out of their shells, I was, too. I was dancing, handling all of the vendors, and making sure everyone was comfortable. I was even comfortable being filmed by ABC 7's cameras. Suddenly, I didn't recognize myself. I used to be a person who was shy and wasn't a risk-taker.

I am now the kind of person who can lead. The kind of person who can raise enough money to find a cure for the cancer that killed Shiri. I did something to try to make a change in the world, but didn't realize that in doing so, I changed, too.

Dear Frederick Scarf,

I read your essay many times and was moved each time. Not only that you were lucky enough to find a friend with whom to share crazy and wonderful adventures, but that you realized when she became ill and then died that you could continue the adventure of your friendship by reaching out to other people who are suffering from the disease that caused her death. This is the work of all of us: to honor, to love, to enjoy those that we encounter in this amazing life, and to befriend them the best way we can. To laugh and play with them while they are with us, and to mourn them when they leave us by creating a monument not of stone (though that might be a good thing too) but of fun and laughter and help for those they might have been, had they survived. Even though your essay brought tears to my eyes, I also smiled, thinking of you and Shiri. Such good souls. May your foundation to help those with bone cancer be a raging success and may you continue to grow and to change, as you explore all the farther reaches of your compassionate power, and may you continue to enjoy all the dances you give for others.

List of Top 10 winners are Ernestine Fu (North Hollywood High School), Jordan Liss (Grover Cleveland High School), Oriana McGee (Alexander Hamilton High), Thelma McKinley (Crenshaw High School), Aarika Pride (Etiwanda High School), Cecilia Saldana (Manual Arts High School), Frederick Scarf (Birmingham High School), Samantha Stroebel (Fairfax High School), Seth Victor (Alexander Hamilton High), Frank Williams, III (Dorsey High School).