Plans are well under way for this year’s Relay for Life.
According to executive director senior Matt Woodson, the event will take place on Oct. 17 from 6 p.m. – 6 a.m. and the theme is “Kick Cancer in the Tailgate.” Woodson said he came up with the football game festivities theme during a brainstorm session in hopes that it would encourage as many students to participate as possible. Woodson said the fundraising goal is $25,000, and he hopes to have around 30 teams. Twenty-three teams are currently registered.
“Anybody can be a team, it doesn’t have to be a social club,” Woodson said. “I want to encourage people to utilize the ease of online registration. It makes it really easy to fundraise.”
Woodson said participants can send out emails to potential sponsors directly from the website after signing up. He said he tried this method last year and raised hundreds of dollars in a matter of minutes. Along with the excitement of tailgating games and food, public relations chair senior Rachel Weiss said Relay for Life will include all of the traditional events honoring both those who have lost the battle and survivors.
“We want to celebrate those we have lost and celebrate those who have fought and won,” Weiss said.
The Relay for Life committee hosts a Survivors’ Benefit dinner prior to the event. Then, cancer survivors and their caregivers kick off the evening by making the first lap around the front lawn.
After dark, everyone will gather for the Luminaria Ceremony.
Participants can purchase paper bags and decorate them in honor of cancer patients; then the bags are filled with sand and candles are lit and placed inside. Weiss said she got involved with Relay for Life after a young boy she babysat was diagnosed.
Last year she decorated a luminaria for him.
“It lights up the whole front lawn — it’s so cool,” Weiss said.
Woodson said the ceremony is his favorite part of the evening. He said he draws some of his passion for Relay for Life from witnessing his grandfather battle cancer.
“This has always been a passion for my family,” Woodson said. “My grandfather was diagnosed six times and he survived five.”
Woodson said he grew up helping with Relay for Life, and has learned to appreciate the hard work involved by watching his mother serve as a Relay for Life community director. He said he has seen firsthand where the fundraised money goes: into wigs, food pantries, transportation, treatments and Christmas presents for diagnosed children. Woodson said knowing what a difference the money can make spurs him towards ensuring Harding’s relay is a success.
“I’ve got so much going on, and Relay adds so much to my plate,” Woodson said. “But in the end it doesn’t matter because I have so much passion for it.”
Woodson said he encourages students to remember that although Relay for Life is lots of fun, it is more meaningful than mere entertainment.
“It’s not all about having fun; the focus is to raise funds,” Woodson said.
Students can sign up to participate in Relay for Life as a team or an individual at www.relayforlife.org.
