Andalusia High School senior Allie Phillips’ Be the Change project was inspired by her grandfather, who battled lung cancer for 32 years.

Be the Change is a senior English assignment that requires students to complete a project in conjunction with a research paper.

During the Thanksgiving break, Phillips made a home-cooked meal and delivered it to a family friend who is battling cancer.

“One of my mom’s really close friends was diagnosed with breast cancer,” Phillips said. “I wanted to make a meal and sit and talk with her for a while.”

Phillips talked with the family friend for two hours learning all about what she was going through and her story.

“I found out that all of her daughters are going to take a test to see if they are carrying the gene for breast cancer,” Phillips said. “And if they do have it then they are all going to have surgery together. I think that is just a very touching story.”

Phillips cooked macaroni and cheese, green beans, cornbread, casserole, chicken and blueberry dessert.

“I mainly cooked everything by myself,” Phillips said. “But I had my mom help with the dessert because I didn’t want to mess it up.”

Phillips said that her project was very personal to her.

“I know that everyone’s project was unique and had their own personal aspects to it,” Phillips said. “Mine was personal to me because of my grandfather. I wanted to show the people that I was cooking for that I care and that I understand what they are going through.”

Phillips wrote her research paper on cancer research and the effects of cancer on the patients.

“I think that by writing the paper before I did the project, it really helped me,” Phillips said. “It helped me understand what they were going through.”