The AU community raised over $48,000 for cancer research at the annual Relay For Life event in Bender Arena Saturday night.
From 7 p.m. on Saturday April 17 to 7 a.m. April 18, students and community members came together after weeks of fundraising to enjoy entertainment, prizes, food and music.
This year’s total of $48,000 in fundraising is a dramatic increase from last year’s $27,000, according to the AU Relay For Life Event Chair Lauren Walens.
“It was by far the best Relay AU has ever had,” Walens said.
The 2010 Relay for Life was only the third Relay that AU ran independently. Before 2008, AU held Relay for Life in conjunction with George Washington University and the Catholic University of America, among other D.C. colleges.
The night’s turnout included 584 students, staff, alumni and faculty members registered for AU Relay For Life online and another 56 participants registered at the door, according to the event tally. Walens estimated that 400 of the 640 registered participants made it to the event.
Students planned AU’s Relay For Life with multiple committees, each responsible for a specific aspect of the event.
Heidi Davis, co-chair of the Entertainment Committee and a senior in the School of Communication and the College of Arts and Sciences, found the event challenging to plan, but she said she is looking forward to being involved in the future.
“Relay For Life is one of the most fun events on campus because it has a little bit of everything,” Davis said. “It’s a great chance to hang out with friends while doing something that really matters.”
Members who are not graduating in May already have high hopes for next year’s Relay.
Andrew Lam, the online chair for the Relay Planning Committee and a freshman in the Kogod School of Business, said his first experience planning AU’s Relay was rewarding.
“I look forward to getting the campus and community of American University more involved in Relay,” he said. “I think people don’t recognize the significance of what we do with Relay and the American Cancer Society and cancer, in general.”
The event had a great impact on Relay participant Kit Blanke, a freshman in CAS.
“I found the event programming to be very moving,” Blanke said. “I particularly liked the way they encouraged the remembrance of specific people during the Luminaria Ceremony.”
Relay For Life’s motto is “Celebrate. Remember. Fight Back.” The Luminaria Ceremony represents the “Remember” aspect of the event. During this ceremony, white paper bags representing survivors and those currently battling cancer, with lights inside are lit during a moment of silence.
Lauren Gardner, a sophomore in the School of International Service, said she was very impressed with the event.
“I thought it was a huge success. It had a really great turnout, and I was amazed with how many people stayed from 8 p.m. till 8 a.m.,” Gardner said.
Relay For Life has personal significance for Gardner because eight of her family members have fought cancer in the past, and her grandmother is currently battling the disease.
“I’ll be abroad next fall, but I really want to be a part of the planning committee when I get back. I think they do a really great job,” Gardner said. “It’s like my mom always said, ‘We’re walking around with targets on our backs, we might as well fight for the future while we still can.’”
You can reach this writer at news@theeagleonline.com. The AU community can continue to donate to Relay for Life by logging onto www.americanrelay.org.
Students interested in being involved in next year’s Relay for Life should send an e-mail to americanrelay@gmail.com. Event planning will begin over the summer.
