Relay For Life is the signature fundraiser for the American Cancer Society, staffed and coordinated by volunteers who give their time and effort because they want to help take action against cancer in any way they can. On Friday, March 23rd, 2018, CNU held Relay for Life in the Field House from 7 PM – 7 AM.
The night involved an insane amount of people coming out and walking laps to show their support. Many of CNU’s organizations set up tables and sold relay themed goodies (lots of yummy snacks around!). Delta Gamma had necklaces and bowls of beads that were colored for the different types of cancers, and participants could add a new bead to their necklace every time time they completed a lap.
Many organizations at CNU formed teams and fundraised money beforehand for Relay. The top earning team was the Alpha Sigma Alpha sorority, raising a total of $10,129! Colleges Against Cancer was just behind them with $8,167! In total, Christopher Newport University as a whole raised $53,024.23! That is an insane amount of money to an extremely important cause, and we should be very proud of our school and all those who participated.
At 10 PM the Luminaria ceremony was held. The Luminaria ceremony is meant to honor every life touched by cancer, with little luminarias lit around the track in honor. The ceremony began with a moment of silence. All of the lights went low and a couple of speeches were given. One was from Alexis Quance, a CNU senior and cancer survivor.
She gave a very emotional recap of her story and all that she has been through. During her speech she reinforced how important it is for people to participate in events like Relay: “Your time, your commitment, and your money actually do have an impact,” and how the American Cancer Society benefits so much from people’s time and donations. Afterwards there was a heartfelt poem about a whole year spent without someone and live music played as everyone rose and walked the track together. It was an extremely emotional and impactful ceremony.
At one point in the night, we stopped by the Alpha Phi Omega table, a service fraternity on campus, and asked a few brothers why they walk and what Relay means for them. Hayley McGraw and Tara Butler are members of APO and active Relay for Life participants. They both stayed 7-7, all twelve hours, in 2017 and 2018. Tara also raised $100 on her own to contribute to Relay! Abby Reed and Corinne Whalen are both sophomores in APO. Abby walks for her family, for her great aunt who has passed and and her grandmother who is not quite in remission yet. Abby has participated the last three years; her first year was before she was even a CNU student! She came with her older sister, who is now an alumni. Corinne walks for her grandpa and a girl she knew in high school who unfortunately died of leukemia.
We had an awesome time at Relay, and are so proud to see Captains coming together to support other Captains.