Students gathered in the Markin Family and Recreation Center last Saturday in an effort to raise money for cancer research, as Relay for Life hosted their annual celebration.
According to Lauren Neustadt, president of the organization, Relay for Life works with different student groups to raise money for the American Cancer Society throughout the year. The accumulation of their efforts is the Relay for Life event itself, something they do to celebrate all the money they have raised alongside all fundraisers and cancer survivors.
Bradley Relay for Life operates alongside a staff partner from American Cancer Society to plan all fundraising events, including the one held on Saturday. This year, the theme for this year was “Love to Hate Cancer” because of its proximity to Valentine’s Day.
For Angela Leontyev, attending the event was a way to show support for the cause.
“I think everybody has some connection with [cancer],”Leontyev, a senior biology major, said. “Unfortunately, I think we are living in a world to where we at least know somebody [ who has cancer], but that’s what the event is for.”
According to Neustadt, Relay for Life is a donation-based event, and many of the foods were provided by local businesses. Various student organizations also joined Relay for Life to help raise awareness, including Bradley Fencing Club, Dynamix a capella group and Orchesis dance troupe, who performed at the event.
“Originally, what Relay [for Life was] … was walking to raise money,” Neustadt said. “[It’s] a gathering of people to just recognize and spread the awareness for cancer.”
Another activity at the event was Lap Beads, where people walked around Markin’s performance court and collected one bead for each lap they completed, according to Neustadt. The beads included a variety of colors, each representing a different type of cancer.
One of the activities at the event was virtual lap, an opportunity for students’ families or friends to join the event though technology.
“People can call or FaceTime their family members and do the laps together,” Neustadt said. “We turn all the lights off in here … and we do a remembering lap and a survivor lap.”
Emily English, a junior mechanical engineering student, was one cancer survivor in attendance. She said she enjoyed the idea of Bradley’s Relay for Life.
“I think it’s really cool that it involves [clubs] on campus, and it’s reaching older students [and] young adults,” English said. “I feel a lot of them don’t know cancer outside of like, ‘Oh, my grandma had it,’ ‘Oh, my grandpa had it’ or ‘My friend’s grandma had it’. They just seem removed from it.”
As of Wednesday, Bradley Relay for Life has raised $4,907 for American Cancer Society. To learn more about the national organization, visit http://www.RelayForLife.org.
