UR Relay For Life!!

Many people know of the American Cancer Society and their Relay for Life event that takes place in multiple locations. Well, UR is one of the annual locations that throws Relay for Life and is always super successful! Last Friday, April 12th, was no different.

For those of you who are not familiar with these terms, Relay for Life is a fundraising event to fight cancer. Multiple teams of organizations, friends, family, and more sign up to participate and try to raise the most money they can. When the date for the actual event comes, everyone gathers in one location (for us it was the field house part of the Goergen Athletic Center on campus) and we all walk around the track throughout the whole night until morning. "Cancer never sleeps" is the phrase that motivates us to take time out of our whole night and sleep schedules for this great cause. 

During the event, there are a bunch of activities, events, and performances to keep the energy going and raise even more money. We had a bounce house, massages, and various t-shirts for sale. Throughout the night we had performances from dance groups, a cappella groups, and we had games going on. It was definitely a fun time, but it was very important to remember why we were there. Because of this we had a luminary ceremony where, in short, we all walked around the track slowly in silence and dropped our glow sticks (representing candles) into bags that people made for those who have fallen victim to cancer. It was very moving and it made us even more motivated to raise as much money as we could for the cure. 

I am very proud that my fraternity, Phi Kappa Tau, served in this event with our numbers, donations, and event support. We ran a dodge ball tournament late into the night which everyone had fun with and also had brothers stay until the very end. I know I personally have lost those close to me to cancer and so have many others in and out of our fraternity. We all had our individual reasons for relaying, but it was amazing how so many people could unite in one huge effort for a common cause. 

Cancer never rests, and the fight never stops. This was a great event but there are still so many ways to raise money for the cause and do our own part. Until next year's Relay for Life at the University of Rochester, feel free to check out the American Cancer Society's website if you are interested in contributing to the fight against cancer in any way.