Relay for Life is a nationally known event to raise money for cancer research, sponsored by the American Cancer Society. Colleges Against Cancer (CAC) will sponsor the Relay for Life on April 13 from 2 p.m. to 8 a.m. in the quad.
“This is a nonprofit humongous party where the common goal is to end cancer,” president of Colleges against Cancer Lisa Earnest said. “Students and community members make teams. Each team finds different ways to raise money before or at the event which could be through bake sales, on site fundraiser, photo booth and raffles.”
“Anyone can get involved. There is no minimum or maximum amount of money each team has to make,” Earnest said. “You can do just about anything. Currently we have 30 teams, 212 participants and have raised $12, 288.86 and keep growing.”
According to Earnest, this will be an 18-hour event that lasts through the night. At the relay there will be a survivor’s lap, where all cancer survivors take the first lap to celebrate their victory over cancer while cheered on by the other participants who line the track.
There will be games and activities, and the University Activities Board will bring in a live band. During the event there will also be a Luminaria Ceremony, so people can reflect on those who they have lost to cancer, honor people who have fought cancer in the past and support those who continue to fight. The quad will be darkened while soft music plays.
“We will go through the cycles of ups and downs of those who battle cancer. When people wake up in the morning they will have a new sense of hope that there is a light at the end of the tunnel,” Earnest said.
This is the sixth year that WSU has had the Relay for Life and Earnest said students contributed to its success.
“Everyone has a reason to fight back from cancer,” Earnest said. “Relay for Life has helped many students cope and come together who have lost someone or know someone who has fought cancer. Our advisor, a cancer survivor, went through Relay for Life and now has become a sense of hope and reaches out to survivors. We (CAC) hope to raise as much money as we can. There are a lot of different cancers that people don’t know about or the things that lead to cancer. We hope to one day end cancer.”
For more information about this event contact Lisa Earnest at earnest.8@wright.edu.
