This year, I joined Colleges Against Cancer (CAC), an organization here at PhilaU that is committed to saving lives from cancer by supporting the American Cancer Society. Cancer has impacted us all in one way or another. Just this year, I lost a wonderful friend in his fight against an extremely rare form and my aunt is losing a hard fought battle against breast cancer that started three years ago. It just isn’t fair; the disease turns your world upside down and can change its path in a split second. Colleges Against Cancer makes it clear that cancer isn’t just a disease— it’s also personal.
Every year, CAC partners with Relay for Life, an event that raises money for the American Cancer Society, to fund cancer research in their fight to find a cure. This year’s Relay For Life is happening this Friday on March 31st in the Gallagher Center. I wanted to know more so I sat down with PhilaU’s Co-President of CAC, Rebekah Alvey.
Rebekah is a sophomore health science major who has been vigilantly planning Relay for many months along side other members of CAC. Relay can range from 6 to 24 hours and consists of teams that raise money for the American Cancer Society. A member of each team walks the track the entire time while other activities and games go on. Rebekah says, “This year you can expect a performance from PhilaU’s dance company, a comedian, a lip sync battle, a giant game of hungry hippo, an obstacle course, a bounce house, food, and so much more!” At the end, there is a luminaria ceremony to commemorate and recognize the individuals who have been impacted by cancer. The luminaria is Rebekah’s favorite part. She says, “It’s just a really neat thing to see the gym illuminated by glow sticks in the remembrance of family members and caregivers”. This year, Rebekah is Relaying for her mom’s best friend who just got diagnosed with stage 3 Lung cancer.
Last year, PhilaU raised a little over $16,000 for the American Cancer Society. Rebekah says that this year “CAC will be happy with any amount raised but it would be nice to beat last year’s figure.” Let’s do it PhilaU! Come out to the Gallagher Center this Friday night to show your support. Either make your own team with a few friends or sign up to be a part of an existing team. As Rebekah emphasizes, it is “definitely” not too late to sign up. You can sign up online for $10 up until this Thursday, March 30th, or you can sign up at the door for $20. To sign up online please visit: http://main.acsevents.org/site/TR/RelayForLife/RFLCY17EC?pg=entry&fr_id=79866
Together we can fight back and kick cancer’s butt!