Cancer can affect anyone at any time. That was the message spread by Wright State basketball coach Bill Donlon Sr. at the closing ceremony of this weekend’s Relay for Life event on WSU’s campus.
The all-night event, which started at 6 p.m. Friday and ended at noon today, raised $31,165 for the American Cancer Society. Over 470 people took part in this year’s event. The money will be used towards finding a cure for cancer and assisting families impacted by the disease.
Dozens stayed throughout the entire event as participants walked around the Quad on WSU’s campus. The on-campus radio station WWSU provided music to keep the sleepy walkers awake.
Wright State senior Patricia Wightman completed her fourth year on the committee for Relay for Life. This year, she chaired the event, which she called a success.
“I loved all of the spirit and dedication throughout the night,” Wightman said. “This last semester, it was eat, sleep and breathe Relay. Meetings once a week, it is something when you have enough passion behind it, it can take over.”
Wright State student Katie Fitch will take over the event next year. She started her involvement in the group last year.
“I got involved because my roommate Sindey (Lewis) is on the committee and her mom was diagnosed with colon cancer our senior year of high school,” Fitch said. “When we came to Wright State, we decided to get more involved. My grandma was recently diagnosed, so there are a lot of people close to me.”
Members of Alpha XI Delta sorority at WSU participated in this weekend’s relay. Sorority members Miranda Almy and Bridget Snyder spent nearly the entire 18-hour time outside at the event.
Almy got involved because she lost a close friend to cancer.
“The impact she made on her family and those around her was really big and it makes me sad that she didn’t get that extra time to spend with her grandkids and watch them grow up,” Almy said. “She went at a sudden time; no one knew she was sick.”
Snyder participated in Relay for Life not because she knew someone affected by cancer, but because she saw the effect cancer has on the community as a whole. She said she stayed all night because of the selflessness of others involved in the cause.
“This raised so much money for a good cause,” Snyder said. “Each cause is different but they all go towards the same feeling of helping people who don’t have much.”
Almy hopes the money raised can be used to help families locally impacted by cancer.
“I think that would be the nicest way for the money be used,” Almy said. “Towards families who are recovering from the loss of someone. I know someone who was in their senior year in high school and their mom died of cancer. She had to take care of her sister because they had no one else to take care of them.”
WSU’s Relay for Life was one of 600 similar events taking place globally according to the American Cancer Society. Over 4 million people annually participate in Relay for Life.
