Meet the woman who runs Appalachian State’s Relay For Life, Angel Mathis!
Angel has been a part of Relay For Life since her freshman year of high school after her uncle passed away from cancer. When she got to App, she quickly found herself being thrown into leadership positions through Relay. She was president of the organization by her junior year.
As president, Angel organizes fundraisers, recruits committee members, reserves the space for Relay For Life, and meets with an American Cancer Society representative each week. In the Spring, her workload increases even more as she works to register volunteers, creates teams, gathers sponsors, and spreads the word about the organization.
Angel says that through her experience being president at the collegiate level, she has gained more understanding of people and their backgrounds. “You don’t really realize how many people are affected by cancer until you go out and talk to people about it,” she says.
Her first year at App was the first year that Relay For Life was held in the stadium. “That was the first year that it was well-known,” she says.
Relay For Life is held in April each year. This year over $38,000 was raised, which is the most that Relay has ever raised. All of the proceeds go to the American Cancer Society and is dispersed from there to education, fundraisers, and research.
A senior exercise science major, Angel has dreams of being a physician’s assistant. “I really want to work in pediatric oncology, which is another reason I enjoy working with Relay.”
In addition to being president of Relay For Life, Angel is on the Advisory Board for the Cancer Center in Boone. She is also the Community Service Coordinator for Alpha Gamma Delta, and she is a mentor for Western Youth Network. She also helps with planning other events with the American Cancer Society and is involved with CRU.