In preparation for NSU’s annual Relay for Life, NSU’s Relay for Life committee will host Paint the Campus Purple Week from March 30 to April 3 to spread cancer awareness.
Reya Hossain, junior psychology major, came up with the idea for Relay Week to get more people interested in attending Relay for Life and to help raise donations and awareness for the American Cancer Society. Last year, Relay for Life at NSU raised more than $33,000, and the committee is hoping to raise more than $35,000 this year.
Hossain said that last year’s event had a good turnout but lacked support.
“It’s not just about raising money,” she said. “It’s about raising cancer awareness and bringing unity among students, faculty and student organizations with the passion of celebrating those who fought cancer and remembering our loved ones who have passed away.”
“We really want to show our support for the American Cancer Society,” said Relay for Life Event Leader Alix Tucci, senior business administration and finance major. “It’s made a huge impact in a lot of people’s lives.”
Paint the Campus Purple Week includes Relay Spirit Day on April 1 for people to wear purple and take polaroid pictures with Relay for Life-themed props from noon to 1 p.m. in the Don Taft University Center, a bake sale in the UC Pit on April 2 and a water balloon fight on the Alvin Sherman Library Quad between 3 and 5 p.m. on April 3.
Relay for Life is an overnight community fundraising walk for the American Cancer Society. Teams of people and vendors camp out around a designated area and members of each team take turns walking around the area throughout the night in honor or memory of loved ones who suffered from cancer.
The relay begins during the day to increase the excitement through the community and to symbolize an individual’s life before they get cancer. The setting sun represents a patient’s cancer diagnosis. As the night continues and it becomes darker and cooler outside, participants begin to feel tired and may want to take a break from walking, which represents how cancer patients feel during treatment. Relay participants continue to walk through the night to demonstrate they won’t give up, just as cancer patients do not give up. Relay ends in the morning to symbolize the end of treatment and hope.
Relay for Life will be held around the Gold Circle Lake for 12 hours beginning April 11 at 6 p.m. Much of the event is the same as last year’s with performances and events throughout the night.
The key events during Relay include the Survivors Lap for cancer survivors to celebrate their victories, the Luminaria Ceremony for participants to honor or remember loved ones who have had cancer and the Fight Back Ceremony to symbolize the emotional commitment made in the fight against cancer.
72 cents out of every dollar received goes to cancer research and programs in the American Cancer Society. The society provides free programs for cancer patients, including, the Hope Lodge, which provides accommodations to cancer patients who travel for treatment, Road to Recovery, which provides transportation to and from treatment appointments, Look Good…Feel Better, which teaches women beauty techniques to improve self-image during chemotherapy and radiation treatments and Reach to Recovery, which matches breast cancer survivors with recently diagnosed patients.
Tucci has participated in Relay for Life since she was in eighth grade, and the main reason she relays is in honor of her grandmother, who passed away from lung cancer a few years ago.
“Cancer is one of those things that you look at and think that it just shouldn’t be in the world,” Tucci said. “I’m not a medical student, and I can’t help people with their illnesses, but at least I can help through donations and give money to the people who can do research.”
I would like to list the events in a separate box like we did in last week’s issue and also use a pull quote: “Cancer is one of those things that you look at and think that it just shouldn’t be in the world.” — Alix Tucci
Paint the Campus Purple Week
Relay Spirit Day
April 1, noon to 1 p.m. at the Don Taft University Center
Bake Sale
April 2 at the UC Pit
Water balloon fight
April 3 from 3 to 5 p.m. at the Alvin Sherman Library Quad
Photo Credit: nsunews.nova.edu
