In the final miles of the Boston Marathon, Susanne Torabi, International Student Coordinator, looked down at her ribbon on her jersey reading “In Memory of Alice,” and thought of Alice Hoffman, for whom she was running. Torabi’s marathon is one of the many events the Andover community has planned in memory of Hoffman, who passed away last Tuesday. “I hope that we will continue to think of Alice and keep the fate of this young woman in our mind and hearts,” said Torabi. “At the end of the race, I was talking to her—it was just Alice and I. The pain was getting worse and worse and all I wanted was willpower against the pain. So I just had conversations with her. Then the pain increased, and I saw the picture of her in front of me and asked her to help me through those final miles.“ Teams and individuals across campus worked to raise money and awareness for Hoffman and the Be the Match foundation. Torabi hopes to run in Hoffman’s honor again at the Boston marathon next year to raise money for the Be the Match foundation. Though it was Torabi’s eleventh time running the Boston marathon, she said running in Hoffman’s memory made this year the experience an incredibly emotional one. “I thought of her so much during the race. Remembering her sense of humor and optimism gave me so much strength. People like Alice make you think that you can do things you don’t think you can do,” said Torabi. The members of the Boys Varsity Lacrosse team wore stickers reading “AH” on their helmets. The Girls Varsity Lacrosse team wore wristbands in Hoffman’s memory as a psych before and during their game last Friday. The wristbands were orange, Hoffman’s favorite color. Hailey Novis ’13, a member of the girls’ lacrosse team, said, “A lot of us on the team knew Alice really well. We all thought it was appropriate to wear the wristbands and play in honor of her.” Cara Daly ’13 said, “I really think she would have liked it.” Kate Chaviano ’12 is fundraising for the Be the Match foundation through the Relay for Life, an event in which teams of students are sponsored to walk for 24 hour without pause. Chaviano is off campus this term and is collaborating with Micki Burton, a senior at Amos Alonzo Stagg High School in Palos Heights, Illinois. Burton is the captain of a team that participates in Relay for Life each year in the memory of Burton’s Aunt who passed away in 2003. Burton’s team has raised $1,010 dollars to date and is now working with Chaviano to fundraise for the Be the Match foundation. The Be the Match foundation is a national bone marrow donor organization that helps patients afford bone marrow transplants, a procedure Hoffman had twice over the course of her cancer treatment. Since working with Burton, Chaviano has raised $400 dollars. Chaviano said, “The day Alice passed away, I just realized that being so far away from all of my friends and my community, I needed to do something to help do my part.”
