SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - Years before Jeanne Yurris was born, her namesake paternal grandmother died of cancer.

Since then, her maternal grandmother has survived breast and colon cancers and her grandfather currently suffers recurring bouts of skin cancer.

Seven members of the Relay for Life team "Mitchell and the It Girls," who hope to raise $2,500 for cancer research are, from left, Mackenzie Zouboules, Hannah Bond, Kaitlyn Menard, Jeanne Yurris, Hannah Clark. In front are Aimee Yurris (left) and Dayna Polakoff. - Katie May/NNSL photo

The 13-year-old is now doing what she can to help cure the disease. She's leading a team tonight (June 13) at the Relay for Life which will benefit the Canadian Cancer Society.

"I know many people that have been affected by cancer and I want to be able to stop it," she said.

With the encouragement of her mother Kathy, who is a food coordinator at the relay, Yurris pulled together 11 of her friends, including her 11-year-old sister Aimee, to collect pledges and take turns walking with her at the 12-hour overnight event. They all planned to decorate their own T-shirts to wear during the relay.

"We're kind of really excited about it," she said. "We get to pull an all-nighter."

The group is calling itself "Mitchell and the It Girls" for team member Mitchell Rankin, a Grade 3 student at Ecole St. Joseph's School.

"He's the only boy on our team," Yurris said. "So we had to recognize that."

Yurris said her role as captain is "a little bit difficult, but people wanted to help."

Even those who can't make it to the race are getting involved in any way they can, she said, particularly people at William McDonald School, where she's in Grade 8.

All 12 young team members have been affected by cancer in some way.

Their fundraising goal is $2,500 and by Tuesday they were almost halfway there, having collected roughly $1,200 through bake sales and online and door-to-door donations.