EMPOWERING YOUTH TO SPREAD CANCER AWARENESS

Meet Daily Point of Light Award honoree Arya Abbasian Kashi. Read his story, and nominate an outstanding volunteer or family as a Daily Point of Light.

Arya Abbasian Kashi may not be able to cure cancer, but he’s going to do whatever he can to help people get through the experience. A 17-year-old high school junior, Arya saw how his own grandmother’s journey with lung cancer devastated his family. Arya began volunteering at Cancer Support Community South Bay, an organization that works to uplift and strengthen people impacted by cancer by providing support, fostering compassionate communities and breaking down barriers to care. Hoping to utilize his close ties within the community to engage fellow young people, Arya founded the organization’s Youth Leadership Council (YLC), bringing together fellow teens who have personal experiences with cancer.

Starting at his high school, Arya organized a group of young people into a Cancer Support Community Club, of which he serves as president. The chapter soon grew, establishing a second chapter at another school and hosting student volunteer teams for CSC fundraising events and workshops. You can find the group engaging with the community, helping at volunteer events throughout the year. Arya cites one of the responsibilities he’s most proud of as promoting CSC South Bay’s free counseling and support programs for teens whose families are affected by cancer. By channeling his own grief into something positive, Arya can help others navigate the gut-wrenching experience of watching a loved one navigate the cancer journey.

Despite having a heavy course workload as a high school junior preparing to apply to colleges, Arya dedicates ten hours per week to CSC South Bay. That’s a significant time commitment, but Arya doesn’t see his volunteer work as an obligation. Instead, he believes he shifted his mindset to see it as something he gets to work on. While his volunteer work was born out of feeling helpless about his grandmother’s situation, Arya has turned his journey into an empowering one that has helped countless others.

What inspires you to volunteer?

I learned on my own that cancer affects way more than just the patient. It affects entire families, especially the kids and the teenagers who often don’t have that many spaces to talk about what they’re going through. Being able to help bring awareness to those resources and make sure families know that they’re not alone is something that really matters to me.

Tell us about your volunteer role with Cancer Support Community South Bay.

I’m the president of Cancer Support Community South Bay’s Youth Leadership Council, an organization dedicated to supporting those affected by cancer, as well as their families. I brought this program to my school, and now I help lead two school chapters. My personal role is organizing meetings, coordinating volunteers for fundraising events and workshops, and running our social media to spread awareness about cancer support communities, like free counseling and support services. Overall, I spend about 10 hours a month fulfilling these tasks.

What inspired you to get started with this initiative?

It really started when my grandma passed away from lung cancer in 2021. It really devastated our family, and I felt helpless because there truly was nothing I could do. I wasn’t even able to go see her because she was in Iran. If I’m not able to cure cancer, I want to at least do something to make this kind of experience slightly less scary for families who are affected by cancer, and combine this with the youth aspects of our organization. Awareness among teens is generally pretty low, so starting this youth leadership group kind of felt like a way to get more students involved in something really meaningful.

What are your long-term plans or goals for the organization?

My main goal is to keep growing the youth involvement side of the organization. Right now, we do have two school chapters, but I would really love to expand that and get even more students involved across other schools in the area and the state and, of course, hopefully across the country eventually. The more students know about what we do and our parent company, and volunteer with our organization, the more families we can reach out to and end up supporting.

What’s been the most rewarding part of your work?

I would say the most rewarding part is seeing the real, direct impact that we have, whether that is volunteering at fundraising events, helping out at workshops, or just spreading awareness about our services. It’s really just meaningful to know that the work that we’re doing actually goes somewhere, and that helps families who are going through something super difficult.

What have you learned through your experiences as a volunteer?

I’d say the community part of it. Seeing how powerful our community support can be. When people are dealing with something as challenging as cancer, even small acts of support, such as providing a space to talk or connecting someone with resources, can really make a huge difference. On top of that, I’ve also learned a lot about leadership and organizing like-minded people.

Why is it important for others to get involved with causes they care about?

I think that when someone is involved in something that they truly care about, that is really how the most change is made. I think that you could compare that to when someone really likes their job, they get a lot more done and are a lot more productive. Even small contributions add up. Volunteering in general also connects people to their communities and helps build an understanding of the challenges that other people in their own community are facing.

Any advice for people who want to start volunteering?

I think my best advice that I can give is just to start anywhere. If you have a passion that you want to get involved in, then that’s great. You should start there. But if not, then people should try to get involved in something that helps other people who are going through something that really requires support. A lot of people really wait until they feel fully prepared to start, but most organizations are honestly just happy to have volunteers who are there and willing to help and learn.

Do you want to make a difference in your community like Arya? Find local volunteer opportunities.