In communities all over the world, people are participating in Relay for Life to benefit the American Cancer Society, the largest cancer fundraiser in the U.S. Relay-ers will spend 24 hours (or in Northeastern’s case 12 hours) with their teams walking around a track to symbolize the never ending fight against cancer in an effort to raise money for those battling the disease. For the third year in a row, Northeastern is hosting our very own Relay for Life event to help take part in this worldwide effort.
From 5PM to 5AM on March 24th, students will pack the seats of Matthews Arena with their respective teams to spend the night at the school’s largest sleepover party. The theme is “Birthday Party”–piggybacking off of the American Cancer Society’s theme for the year–as the organization is known as the “Official Sponsor of Birthdays.” While spending the night in Matthews, relay-ers will be able to take part in fun birthday-themed games and activities like cake decorating and more to help support the theme and have some fun in the process. There will also be other fun activities like yoga, eating contests and dance lessons to pass the time–plus HC Northeastern will be there too, so come visit our table while you’re making your way around the track! Red Bull will also be sponsoring an event/giveaway this year to take place after opening ceremonies called Red Bull Paper Wings for aspiring paper airplane engineers and pilots. “Professional and amateur [engineers] are encouraged to construct paper planes designed to compete in one of three categories: distance, airtime and aerobatics,” says Brittany Miller, Head of Marketing for Northeastern’s Relay. “The top five in each category from across the country win a trip on a real airplane bound for Austria to represent the US at the Red Bull Paper Wings World Finals.”
If you still need more reasons to get involved, Miller explains the importance and significance of this event, and how cancer truly touches everyone in a community. “Students should get involved because it is the largest cancer fundraising event around the country and why wouldn’t someone want to be a part of something huge? Cancer affects every single person and raising money for awareness and treatment goes lengths.” Miller, along with others who have helped put this event together, describe how Relay has impacted them and what being involved in a fundraiser like this really means. Committee member Erin Archibald explains, “after attending my first ever Relay for Life during my sophomore year at Northeastern, I realized I had been missing out on
such a great event… Obviously Relay for Life supports the fight and a wonderful cause, and I can’t imagine a better way to do it than an all night event with friends (and strangers) who believe in the same cause. I was inspired to do more than just attend the event, and so I got involved as a committee member.” Through Relay, we are all able to be a part of something bigger that can really make a difference in the lives of others. Committee member Gabriel Colon-Sciabarrasi sees the event as a way to spread joy to others, while still having fun himself. “I am happiest when those around me are happy. Relay for Life is a great cause and it works toward eliminating a medical condition that affects so many and yet will one day be cured.” He added, “I want the world to be a happier place and fighting cancer is one way I hope to help!”
As of March 15, 1,338 students on 136 teams had already signed up for the event, raising $57,302 to date. Miller says the goal is to raise “$160,000, so we have a ways to go in fundraising but we’re confident we can pull it out in this last week.”
If you would like to donate to Relay or join a team yourself, visit the Northeastern Relay for Life website here. Miller adds, “we’ll have a lot of birthday themed games and the laps are themed towards different types of birthday parties,” so you definitely won’t want to miss out!