Relay for Life
On March 31, 2017, dozens of students, faculty, friends, and members of the community filed into the Wildcat Field House for the 2nd Annual Relay for Life. Relay for Life is the main fundraising event for American Cancer Society and is held in over 20 countries throughout the year. Participants commonly take part in the 12-hour walk along with several events throughout the night to keep everyone awake, busy and pumped. The SUNY Poly Chapter of Colleges Against Cancer has been hyping up the event since last semester, sponsoring guest speakers, a kick-off party, and partnering with the Health Center to host a smoke-free event. Students were encouraged to register early and get a head-start on their fundraising, where each individual was allowed to join a team and make it a group effort. Student organizations, such as us, The Factory Times, created teams and clubs and sports teams alike followed.
Relay For Life started with a Survivor and Caregiver Reception and was attended by staff, students and family members alike. The actual event started later in the night and was accompanied by guest speaker, Ethan Zohn. Ethan is a Reality TV contestant who himself, had overcome cancer twice. The planning committee held multiple events throughout the night to keep everyone engaged. Alumni and comedian Elliot O’Reilly came back to keep the students laughing, Downbeat Percussion performed and kept everyone dancing, and a hot-dog eating contest was held for, honestly, just-for-fun. The event concluded at 7 AM the following morning with a final lap by those who lasted throughout the night.
Tucker Mogren, the Vice President of Colleges Against Cancer, spoke about the event. “This year was a whole new year for Relay for Life at SUNY Poly, we had our newly formed club, Colleges against cancer, whose sole role is to promote, plan and raise money for Relay for Life as well as promote the American Cancer Society at SUNY Poly. We also had a whole new planning committee so everything was new to us. Most of us didn't even attend all of Relay last year so we didn't know what to include and what not. I think that's where we learned the most. We learned so much about what works and what does not. We are hoping next year to be able to build an even better planning committee and we can only improve from here! I am very excited for the future.”
From when the fundraising period began to the present day, students and family members have raised over $13,000. Donations are still being accepted and the club is optimistic that their numbers will only go up.
Colleges Against Cancer meets at 12 PM on Fridays in the Student Center Theatre.
