After months of planning, endless hours of hard work and full-hearted dedication for a great cause, this Friday marks the annual Boston College Relay for Life event. With hundreds of students participating to help end the fight against cancer, there are many heartfelt stories of why people Relay and what brings them to the event. Four people associated with the event that should be recognized are the Event Chairs of this year’s Relay: Shannon Capozzola, Casey Osgood, Mark Maleri and Emily Hoffman.
Each have been involved with Relay for years for both personal reasons and an overall mission to bring an end to cancer. Casey, Lynch ’14, relays because she never wants loved ones to hear the words “you have cancer” ever again; she has seen first hand how debilitating this disease can be through watching the immense pain and suffering they experienced throughout treatment, how easy it was for them to lose hope. Emily, CSOM ’13, has also seen firsthand how much cancer sucks and the devastating impact it can have on those fighting it as well as the families involved. Shannon, A&S ’14, has been relaying for four years in memory of her aunt who fought for nine years, but unfortunately passed away from cancer in 2010. Mark, CSOM ’15, relays because there are too many people (himself included) that this disease has affected and he just wants the struggle that goes along with it to stop.
Shannon donating her hair for Beautiful Lengths at last year’s event.
With all of the Event Chairs participating in relay for at least four years each, there are many aspects of the night that they enjoy and treasure. Mark’s favorite part of the night is the Survivor Lap after the Opening Ceremony. Each and every survivor that comes to the event, whether they are a student or member of the outside community, stands as a form of inspiration for everyone at the event. They are the reason that the Event Chairs are putting in so much time and effort to help out such an amazing cause. After the survivors have their recognition lap, all event participants join them in a lap of solidarity around the track to recognize that they will unite through the night to finish the fight. The other three chairs said that without a doubt, Luminaria is their favorite event of the night for the support it brings out between complete strangers in a time when participants are honoring and remembering all those who fought cancer. Each year when participants join the track in the darkness to honor or remember their loved ones, strangers hug each other and friends hold hands. Just seeing the vast amount of love and support that people have for each other at that moment and how cancer affects us all in different ways is extremely eye opening and powerful. Even in the darkness, hope can shine through and prevail.
Casey and the chairs have been prepping for the event since last year!
With an event that draws hundreds of students in attendance each year, there is a strong importance behind it, and all of the chairs agree that Relay is something that all students should participate in. This event really shows people that they are not alone in this fight, whether you are a survivor, caregiver or care deeply about someone who is fighting or fought cancer. Every single person on this campus is affected by cancer in some way. Seeing the Boston College community come together to show their support, raise money for the cause, and listen to the stories of their fellow student survivors is so inspiring. It brings about this powerful sense of unity and hope that everyone should really come see and experience.
Mark, as well as all the other chairs, has made Relay for Life a huge part of his college experience. Photo Courtesy of Tatiana Petrovick of BC Heights.
Want to know what to expect at this year’s event? When you enter the Plex on Friday March 28th, you will enter into Destination Hope, striving for a Passport for a Cure. The travel theme of this year’s event shows not only that cancer affects people around the globe but also that a cancer patient goes through a journey as well. Because “hope” is something that is so present in the lives of cancer patients and their families, the chairs really wanted to tie this into our theme somehow. At the beginning of the semester, the chairs asked people where they “hope” to go and had them pinpoint destinations on a giant map. This map at the event and will be adding purple cancer ribbons to the locations around the world that have Relay for Life events. The travel theme was incorporated into the preparation by encouraging people to send in pictures from Spring Break and from abroad to help show the international support for BC Relay.
Other exciting things coming to this year’s Relay include the first year thar caregivers are being honored. All caregivers will join the survivors on the track for a special lap to thank them for all they have done. Caregivers, no matter to what degree, are an essential part of each person’s fight against cancer- it can’t be done without them! This year’s event will feature amazing speakers, performances, and activities. Participants will have the opportunity to take part in a Jail and Bail, where the “TSA” officer will put a friend in jail for a specific period of time. In addition, we were lucky enough to receive some awesome raffle prizes from various donors, including a signed hockey stick from the Bruins, a signed photograph of Rob Gronkowski from the New England Patriots, and multiple tickets to different Boston sporting events.
Although Emily is abroad this semester, she has been a huge help in planning this year’s event as well as BC Relay for Life events in the past.
Still want to sign up or donate to the cause? You still can! You can sign up at the event or find out more at relayforlife.com/bc.