On April 12, N.C. State will hold its annual Relay For Life at the Greek Village Field. As the N.C. State community was reminded this week after tragically losing senior Ian Peterson, the fight against cancer continues.
One in three women and one in two men will develop cancer in their lifetime. It is these alarming statistics that continue to ignite N.C. State’s annual celebration of the Relay For Life.
Although the main objective of Relay is to raise money for cancer research and cancer patients, the event is also held to spread cancer awareness, celebrate the lives of survivors, remember those who lost their lives to cancer and unite a community in the fight against cancer. It is estimated that Relay For Life events have raised over $4 billion to date.
While Relay For Life has grown internationally, N.C. State has had a Relay for Life organization for 11 years and currently contains 15 members, though it is looking to grow.
“When you participate in a Relay For Life event, it’s an opportunity to not only honor cancer survivors and remember lost loved ones, but also a chance to raise awareness about what we can do to fight cancer and raise money to help fuel the world’s largest walk to end cancer,” said Jennifer Melowski, a member of the organizing committee, and a freshman in psychology.
Those who were lost and those who are still fighting are honored during a luminaria ceremony, Melowski said.
A luminaria is a paper bag containing candles that are transformed and illuminated after dark at each Relay For Life event. Each luminaria represents a person who fought the battle of cancer.
It is personalized with a name, photo, message or drawing in memory of a loved one who has been affected by cancer. Then, there is a call for the Relay participants to take action against a disease that has taken approximately 6.7 million lives across the U.S each year.
At the event, there will be a DJ along with appearances from Wolfpack Acapella groups and local bands. There will be food, drinks and baked goods for sale at the event, whose profits will all go to Relay For Life. There will also be a bounce house at the event.
“So far, we have raised just under $7,500 for our event, with the number growing each day with new teams and participants continuously joining our event. The money raised from our event and the events across the country go toward various American Cancer Society (ACS) foundations that help with the prevention, treatment and care of those affected by cancer,” Melowski said.
There are currently 42 teams participating in the Relay, including Student Government, Veterans against Cancer, SAY Living and Learning Village, College of Textiles and many more.
Other colleges involved with Relay for Life in the triangle include UNC-Chapel Hill with 193 teams and Duke University with 21 teams participating.
Zarrin Alam, a sophomore in management, joined the Relay committee after seeing tragedy hit her own life. Alam lost her grandfather to throat cancer and realized a lack of funding hindered the fight against cancer through research and treatment.
“My grandpa passed away from throat cancer and Relay made me realize that the doctors could have done more to treat it. There just wasn’t enough money invested into the cancer programs, so they couldn’t do as much. After joining Relay For Life, I realized how important it is for us to get involved and raise money for programs to keep people alive.”
