Every year the University Activities Board holds the Relay for Life to honor those who are suffering from cancer, surviving cancer or were lost to cancer. However, this year they will hold a kick off dinner to help raise more money to fight cancer.
“The kick off dinner is to raise money for the American Cancer Society,” said Joseph Gibbons, Philanthropy and Collaborations Chair of the UAB, “We’re hoping to raise enough money for a local grant for cancer research.”
The dinner will have food provided by Sodexo, singing provided by Sigma Phi Epsilon’s a cappella group Sigma Phi Epsitones, a speaker and raffles. The raffles will be for an iPad 2 and Wright State gear.
Tickets are $10 for students, $5 for caregivers, free for survivors and current patients and $20 for everyone else. There are only 200 seats for this event. To buy a ticket or reserve your seat, email Gibbons at gibbons.14@wright.edu. Tickets may also be purchased at the Student Union box office or at the door.
The dinner will be held in the Apollo Room in the Student Union on April 19 at 6 pm.
The Relay for Life, which is an 18 hour event to raise money for cancer research, will be held the next day. Anyone may participate at this event and it is free and open to the public. In the past, the Relay has been a successful event.
“We’ve had large crowds of people and raised a lot of money,” said Gibbons.
This year the UAB has already exceeded the money they raised last year, and most of their donations come from the Relay.
The theme for Relay for Life is Around the World in 18 Hours. They will be representing different countries. There will be food available for purchase, shopping cart races, the Queen of Relay Pageant, which is a cross dressing fashion show, and attendants may donate money to go around in a wheelchair for the day.
Multiple organizations from campus will also be raising money for the cause and they will have games and activities at different booths.
The highlight of the event is the Luminaria Ceremony. For $10 attendants can dedicate a luminaria either in support of someone who is suffering with cancer, in celebration of someone who beat cancer or in remembrance of someone who lost their fight against cancer.
“This is important because everyone, pretty much, has been affected or knows someone who has been affected by cancer. We see so many people losing their life to a disease. We have beaten diseases before. We can beat this one,” said Gibbons.
The Relay for Life will be held on April 20 at 6 pm until April 21 at noon in the Quad.
