Relay for Life is hosted by the American Cancer Society every year to help spread awareness and raise money to battle cancer. Teams are formed to help raise money as well as participate in the relay around a local track. Relays may last as long as 24 hours. Each team is asked to keep one representative on the track at all times, sometimes dwindling into the early hours of the morning.
In 1985, Dr. Gordy Klatt began the Relay for Life. He ran and walked, for 24 hours, by himself to raise money for the American Cancer Society. Since then the event has grown from a one-man operation to one that hosts over 3.5 million participants annually. Relay for Life was not only formed to fight current battles against cancer, but it was formed to remember to lives affected by this disease.
Ole Miss banded together to form 36 teams for this event, the total number of students and faculty participating in the relay was slightly under 400. One of the faculty-based teams was the Ole Miss Librarians. They set their goal at raising $1,000. To their surprise they managed to raise over $1,700 for the American Cancer Society. Ole Miss Relay for Life
Students and faculty met affront the Lyceum at 6pm last Friday to let the festivities begin. The all night fundraiser lasted well into the early morning hours and participants enjoyed activities such as a frozen t-shirt contest, a hot dog eating contest, as well as the actual relay. Sophomore Pike, Ryan O’ Connor on his experience, “This was my first time participating and it certainly won’t be my last. The event was inspiring because I was able to help people by doing something that most of them couldn’t do for themselves.”
The event can be broken up into three main categories with three main purposes. Those purposes are to celebrate, remember, and fight back. The Survivor’s Lap was the first event, it is held to celebrate the victories we have achieved over cancer. The second event is the Luminaria Ceremony, which was brought on to remember the lives lost and the lives affected by cancer. During this event, white bags are filled with sand and a candle is placed in each bag. The final event is designed to fight back against cancer. The Fight Back Ceremony is the final section of the event, this is where participants arise to take a personal stand against cancer.
This event, which started with one man over 25 years ago, has grown to be the largest and most profitable event for the American Cancer Society. For the first time on our campus, students came together to take on the Relay for Life. The success of this event has left many students and faculty members in anticipation of next year’s event.
No comments:
Post a Comment