On the evening of March 21st, about 2,700 people met at Matthews Arena, where many would walk for 12 hours throughout the night. They raised a total of $240,000 along the way. What inspired them to do this? The possibility to find a cure for cancer and create a world with more birthdays.
Relay for Life at Northeastern was a huge success this year, not only because it raised nearly a quarter of a million dollars for the American Cancer Society, but for other, unquantifiable reasons as well.
“I think people gain so much from the event, but mostly realize that they and their loved ones are not alone in the fight against cancer,” said junior Giana Manzi, vice president of publicity co-chair on the Relay committee. “It affects so many people, and though everyone has their unique story, we are all tied by one common thread: we want to finish the fight against cancer.”
Junior Christina Ferrara echoed Manzi’s sentiment, commenting on how the event brings everyone together for such an important cause.
“People gain so much from Relay, and each person may walk away with a different experience,” said Ferrara. “Many people use this to remember a loved one either fighting cancer or that has passed from cancer. A lot of people also take this as motivation to fight back. Relay has many different layers, but I think the biggest thing people take away from Relay is unity. No matter what your major, year, or organization, we all come together as one to remember, celebrate, and fight back.”
One of the tasks for the Relay for Life committee was to fill all 12 hours with food, fun and inspiration. Activities included a limbo contest, Zumba classes, painting, free food samples and many dance and singing performances from Northeastern organizations. The committee also helped out with donations and various fundraising events.
“This year we focused a lot on increased publicity across campus for Relay For Life, including starting advertising earlier, and trying to make more of an impact by raising large-scale awareness of the event,” said sophomore Savannah Knisely, activities support chair. “The committee itself really put an emphasis on fundraising throughout the year consistently, instead of haphazardly throwing together donations right before the event. Another attempt of the committee was to make the theme (Olympics) more central to the activities this year, and to have the event run as smoothly as possible in execution.”
Relay may seem like all fun and games at first, with students from a wide variety of organizations bonding over frisbee, football and food, but there are also emotional parts to the night. The whole mantra of any Relay event is ‘Celebrate, Remember, Fight Back’ and the committee tailors their activities accordingly. During the ‘Remember’ part of the night is when the luminaria ceremony takes place. It is a very moving ceremony where paper bags with candles (electric for the indoor event!) line the track and have names of survivors and past loved ones written on the outside. It is a great period to reflect on why we do Relay for Life and to give a name to those we are fighting for.
“My favorite part of Relay for Life is the luminaria ceremony,” said junior Emily Trautwein. “Sometimes in all the fun, music, and games, it is easy to think of Relay for Life as a social event, but during the luminaria ceremony, it changes and it’s different. It reminds us of how important the fight is and that we can’t give up hope. It’s a time where no words are needed because everyone in the room has some sort of experience and we are all there for our loved ones and each other. It is an extremely powerful moment and means so much to those attending.”
Overall, Relay was a great success this year, both for Northeastern as a whole and for each individual participant. Every groggy student that left Matthews in the morning left with a greater appreciation for the cause and awareness of what they were fighting for.