Relay For Life gathers students to raise money for cancer awareness
Relay for Life features over 30 booths around the track, all ran by students and small businesses on April 13 in Finch Fieldhouse.
Student groups gathered at Finch Fieldhouse to raise money for cancer awareness at Central Michigan University’s annual Relay For Life April 13.
The 12-hour event beginning at 11 a.m. featured games, music performances, speeches and food. It was organized by the CMU chapter of Colleges Against Cancer. President Amelia Greco said the main goal is to raise money for cancer awareness and help cancer patients.
“(We) fight back together so one day, no one in our community will ever have to hear the words ‘you have cancer,’” Greco said during the opening ceremony.
Money raised at the event will go to the American Cancer Society. She said the groups had already been raising money before the event, adding up to $23,788 when the event began. She said that CAC hopes to get the amount to around $35,000.
Relay For Life is a long-standing tradition dating back to 1985, first done by a doctor named Gordy Klatt. Greco said he spent 24 hours running around a track to raise money for cancer awareness. CMU’s version used different tactics to raise money.
In Finch Fieldhouse, there were two rows of tables on each side of the track. Various student organizations, local businesses and sororities had tables set up around the track, trying to raise as much money as possible.
The teams had a variety of ways of fundraising, including selling food, necklaces and artwork. Some teams had more creative methods like CMU Physical Therapy, who gave massages for donations.
The event kicked off with a short speech from CMU President Robert Davies, who talked about his mother’s work as an oncology nurse. He said that she was constantly working with cancer patients and when Relay For Life came to Nevada where they lived, he volunteered for it.
While he couldn’t stay for very long due to a busy schedule, Davies said he felt the event was an important one for CAC to put on.
“I have seven other events (to be at today), but this was the most important one and that’s why I am here,” Davies said.
During his speech, Davies said that everyone there had a story related to cancer or knew some who has been affected by it. This was a common theme throughout the participants of the event, with many of them saying they knew someone who had cancer.
Jamie Koebke, local store marketer of the Mount Pleasant Texas Roadhouse, had a table at the event. She said she knew four people in her life who had to fight through cancer, including her grandmother. She said she was overwhelmed by the amount of support she saw during the event.
There were several cancer survivors there as well, who took two laps around the track during the opening ceremony. Many of them had CAC members with them, and some had tears in their eyes.
One of these survivors, Aaron Rop, spoke during the opening ceremony about his experience. He discovered that he had cancer while he was in the Navy and endured six months of chemotherapy. He said that all he wanted to do was to go to CMU after treatment, which he was able to when he completed community college.
Another cancer survivor who participated in the event was Renee Sheneman, who was diagnosed with lung cancer in August of 2018. She said she had been participating in these relays for 15 years, since her father was also a cancer patient and passed away when she was 15 years old.
This was her first relay as a cancer patient which, made her focus on the fundraising aspect even more. Renee said she hopes other survivors will connect with others and find support through them.
