NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — It's a weekend chore that a lot of teenagers would prefer not to do but one group of students at Menchville High School said they're doing it as an obligation to their friend.
For the last few years, the cross-country team has been motivated by the memory of their teammate Luke Gere who they say was a great athlete and friend.
"What I remember most about him is his desire to work and his effort," said Johnny Crain, a senior. "He was always trying to be the best and he was competitive, but he wasn't arrogant."
In the summer of 2020, Anne-Lise Gere said her son ran a different kind of race—a race against the clock.
"We were told that he had cancer and that it was a very rare and very difficult cancer to treat," she said. "We came to find out shortly after that it had a six-month life expectancy from the time of diagnosis."
Gere said her son was determined to live and didn't let cancer slow him down or keep him off his team. His teammates like Matthew Swanenburg keep him from his team.
"He'd still do everything he could to run with us and even if he wasn't running with us, he was going on bike rides," said teammate Matthew Swanenburg.
After months of treatment, Gere said there wasn't much more doctors could do for Luke, but his friends, desperately wanted to help.
Swanenburg set up a tribute called “Leaves for Luke,” where students would go door-to-door in their community, raking leaves.
"Even if we didn't raise as much money as we ended up doing it was just to show him that we weren't giving up," Swanenburg said. "We were going to keep fighting for him because we knew he was fighting an impossible battle."
That first year, the team raised several thousand dollars. Unfortunately, Luke passed away on Dec. 22, 2020, before he could see the work his friends put in the piles.
"It was the last night that we had finished raking leaves that first year and we were all ready for him we made jokes about getting him a PS5," Johnny Crain said.
Instead of a game console, the team said they used some of the money raised to carry Luke with them in their hearts and on the field, wearing tracksuits with the ribbon for pediatric cancer along with his initials.
The tradition is now in its 3rd year. Swanenburg said his friend's legacy lives on in another way.
After his passing, his parents are also giving a gift in their son's honor—the gift of a bright future.
"My husband and I said if we cannot send Luke to college, we will help other athletes achieve their dream of a college education," Gere said. "So we offer two $2,500 scholarships to Menchville High School athletes," says Gere.
The students have one more weekend to go before the rakes go away until next year. They have a goal of raking leaves at 24 houses and a similar mindset that Luke had to push through to prevail
You can find more details about Leaves for Luke by clicking the links here and here.
