Facing the truth that a friend has been diagnosed with cancer is not easy. Senior Callie Alvarez thought she needed a way to show her support when her friend, senior Allie Bierle, was diagnosed with ovarian cancer.

Alvarez had the idea of making t-shirts after a previous experience at her church. There was a woman at her church who had leukemia and Alvarez decided that t-shirts would be a fun way to show her support for the woman. Alvarez had to organize all things for the shirts and thought it was a lot of work but worth it.

“When I found out that Allie had something going on I was like it would be really cool for everyone to see and back her up,” Alvarez said. 

Going off of past experience, Alvarez came up with the idea by herself and showed it to Allie to make sure she was okay with it before showing anyone else.

“I thought it was a nice gesture,” Bierle said. “It made me feel weird at first because I didn’t want to be the center of attention but it shows that they care.”

The idea was originally just for Bierle’s youth group and through her church. Later, some of Bierle’s friends told Alvarez it should be done at school and it has now had major success.

A total of 89 shirts were sold. The shirts should arrive around Nov. 18 and Alvarez will then begin distributing on Nov. 20 at an undecided location.

“A lot of people I didn’t know that well got the shirt,” Bierle said. “It shows that people care about someone who has to go through this because not everyone has to go through something like this at this age.”

The shirt is a solid black shirt with “All out for Allie” written on the front and a teal colored cancer ribbon to represent ovarian cancer. The back of the shirt features a bible verse that Alvarez thought focused on strength and the strength that Bierle has to overcome her cancer.

“She’s a tiny little thing and she’s super strong and she’s not letting it bring her down,” Alvarez said. “We will plan a day when she comes back from chemo for everyone to wear the shirts.”

Shirts are to be worn on Nov. 25

Alvarez plans on having people wear their shirts on Nov. 25 to show their support on one of the days that Bierle comes back to school from chemo.