The North Shore will be making a splash against cancer at the Gold Coast Rotary’s annual Swim Across America event.

“Hopefully, we’ll eradicate cancer,” organizer Sheila Harmon said. “I don’t know if it’s going to be in my lifetime, but I’ll keep working for it.”

The Swim Across America event is hosted by the Gold Coast Rotary, which includes Lake Success and Lake Success and partners with Manhasset, Williston Park, Hicksville, Glen Cove and Carle Place.

Harmon is the liaison to the Great Neck South High School’s Interact Club, the high school Rotary club that will participate in the event.

The swim will be held on Sept. 28 from 8 a.m. until 3 p.m.

Swim Across America is a national nonprofit that hosts pool and open-water swims to raise money for cancer research.

Swim Across America’s Long Island chapters’ funds go directly to local hospitals and those thousands of miles away.

This includes the Swim Across America Lab at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, the Swim Across America Lab at Weill Cornell Medicine Meyer Cancer Center, Columbia University Medical Center, the Feinstein Institute of North Shore, the Cancer Support Team, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory and MD Anderson Cancer Center in Texas.

Harmon said he has visited each of the labs their funds support, each focusing on a different cancer research and treatment area.

“All of these places are making such strides,” Harmon said.

For Harmon, cancer is personal.

He was diagnosed with cancer 16 years ago. Before her, her mother, uncle, and aunt too had been diagnosed and later died of the disease.

This year, Harmon said, it is even more personal as her daughter was recently diagnosed with cancer.

Harmon and her daughter will swim together this year to raise funds for researching the disease they know all too well.

“I feel so touched by the support that we have received,” Harmon said.

While Harmon said she is comfortable speaking about cancer, she said that was not always the case for most people.

“I remember when my mother had cancer and that was a gazillion years ago,” Harmon said. “We weren’t even allowed to use the word cancer.”

But Harmon said times have changed and she proudly uses her voice to advocate for cancer research.

The swim event will take place in three parts: the high school teams from 8-10 a.m., the middle school teams from 10 a.m. to noon, and everyone else in the afternoon.

A bid to swim costs a $100 donation to the organization, but individuals and organizations are open to sponsor swimmers who otherwise could not donate.

“Not only are we raising money for charity, but we’re throwing kindness to people who can’t necessarily afford this,” Harmon said.

Individuals and organizations can also sponsor the event, either through a $250 donation to be featured on the banner or a $500 donation to have a dedicated lane.

Interested sponsors can reach out directly to Harmon via email at harmonsheila1@gmail.com.

Harmon shouted out the committee who organized the event, saying it was made possible through them.