Crossroads News
Upper School Student Groups Host Charity Game to Support Alzheimer’s Research
By Maya Daniels, 11th grade
The event raised money and awareness through a fun basketball face off between students and faculty.
On Friday Feb. 27, the Upper School Community Service Honors Society held a “Purple Out” basketball game on the Ashworth Dinh 21st Street Sports Court, in collaboration with the division’s Cognitive Disease Club (CDC). The fundraiser spread awareness and raised $2,000 for The Mary S. Easton Center for Alzheimer's Research and Care at UCLA. The 6-on-6 student versus faculty game ended with a student victory after two intense rounds.
Eleventh grade leader of the CDC Lillian Lehrer organized the event with help from Honors Society students and Community Engagement Department co-chairs Hali Morell and Anand Patel. Hali and Anand, who serve as faculty advisors to the group, helped Lillian develop and execute her ideas. “I want to be able to create a platform for the students and what they care about,” Hali said.
Students in the Community Service Honors Society, which launched in 2017, meet Thursdays during lunch to share ideas and work together to create change. The club is a helpful resource for Crossroads students to pursue community service endeavors.
“Helping to put on Purple Out through Honors Society was an incredibly rewarding experience, and I was very happy to support it,” 11th grader Pippa Ang explained. “The Honors Society encourages students to plan events like Purple Out and has supported me throughout my own community service projects as well.”
In the two weeks leading up to the game, CDC members sold baked goods and $20 purple shirts, designed by Pippa and funded by the Honors Society through the Equity & Justice Institute. The Lehrer family graciously matched each donation. Lillian and Pippa also encouraged the Crossroads community to come to school on Friday wearing purple clothing in support of the cause.
“A big part of this for me has not just been, ‘Let’s give money,’ but ‘Let’s help teenagers and younger kids become more aware of a disease that is so prominent right now,’” Lillian said. “Alzheimer’s affects millions of people. Many young people don’t understand the lengths to which this disease can affect the entire family as well.”
The yearly event originally began as a “Pink Out” game, pioneered by Crossroads graduates Sophia Sebbag ’24, Ella Grossman ’24 and Emmy Pynes ’25, to raise money for the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. The 2026 game transformed into “Purple Out,” in support of a cause close to Lillian’s heart. “This year the Honors Society opted to do a different type of fundraiser, adding a bake sale and DJ-ing in the Alley. I took that as an opportunity to find an event for my cause: Alzheimer's research.”
More student-led events like “Purple Out” are still to come from the Honors Society during the rest of the 2025-26 school year. Honors Society leaders, seniors Shane O’Sullivan and Sophie Langevin, are spreading awareness for Earth Day through upcycling plastic water bottles into planters. Hali and Anand encourage students to bring in all their ideas for consideration.
Lillian is excited by the potential to host another “Purple Out” fundraiser: “100% I want to throw the event again next year—it was an amazing success. Then we will see who wants to carry it on after I graduate.”
