The American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life fundraising event took place at Cabrini on Saturday, April 21, in the Dixon Center. Focused on raising money and awareness for cancer, this 12-hour life-saving event gave students the chance to donate money, help people stay well and get well by finding cures and fighting back.
Everyone has his or her own personal reason why they go to Relay for Life and why they donate to Relay. Whether one of their family members was diagnosed with cancer or one of their friends is a survivor or they just knew one person who passed away from cancer, all participants were united under the common cause of raising awareness and funding.
Games were supplied for students to join in right from the start. Check-in began at 3 p.m., with the events ranging from walleyball, Wii gaming, a campus-wide scavenger hunt, a Jeopardy-like game. The ever-popular rave, which has served traditionally as the closing segment of Cabrini’s Relay for Life, took place at from 2:30 a.m. until 3:30 a.m. Food, drinks and other refreshments were provided throughout the whole night.
“It was fun to stay up all night,” Veronica Smith, freshman biology major and a member of Team Delta XI Phi, said. “But there are a lot of us who have personal reasons why we relay.”
Besides the food, music and games there were ceremonies held during which people silently remembered their loved ones lost. The survivorship ceremony recognized cancer survivors in Cabrini’s midst.
In addition to this was the caretaker ceremony, which recognized caretakers of those who battled cancer and the Luminaria ceremony, during which lost ones were recognized with a name on one of countless bags, out of all of which shined symbolic lights. All of these ceremonies were very powerful.
“We were happy to go and support our teammate Tim Sayles,” Connor Quigley, a member of the men’s basketball team, said. “It was his night and he worked really hard for it.”
During this year’s event, Cabrini raised just over $16,000 with about 318 participants.
