By Ryan Gilroy ’19, staff writer
Relay For Life has made its mark across the U.S. and LVC will continue the event in March.
Relay has existed for more than 30 years in 27 countries around the world. The event will return to LVC again and year’s theme is modeled after “The Wizard of Oz,” entitled “There’s no place like HOPE.”
According to Relay, the purpose of the event is to raise funds to improve the survival rate, decrease occurrence and improve the quality of life for cancer patients and the families who look after them.
During the event, the organizations’ goal is to have each team member “take turns walking around a track or designated path” and stress the importance of having a member walk during the entire event, saying “cancer patients don’t stop because they’re tired, and for one night, neither do we.”
LVC has hosted Relay since 2002, so this will be the 17th year,” Molly Hennessy, senior and chair of Relay, said. “This event entails a survivor walk, which is then followed by the caregivers joining the survivors.”
Teams come together and set up for the day to fundraise money by collecting donations for food, games and other various activities. The money collected goes to the overall total of the team and that money goes to Relay.
“Throughout the event, there are different activities, such as minute-to-win-it, musical chair scavenger hunt, open court for basketball, TKE jail that you can pay to get friends ‘locked-up’ and the money is donated to the Relay goal,” Hennessy said. “Also, for the main entertainment the band Nearly York will be performing. There will be chances for prizes throughout the night as well!”
Over the years, Relay has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars from participants and donors leading up to the event. Throughout the day, many events take place every hour including and dinner for the participants.
“For me, Relay has made me more grateful than I already am that my dad is a two-time cancer survivor,” Hennessy said. “Also, it has given me the chance to honor the loved ones that I have lost to cancer.”
Relay For Life will take place on Friday, March 22 starting at 3 p.m. in the Arnold Sports Center. Teams or participants wanting to participate can sign up on LVC’s Relay page at relayforlife.org/palvc.