About 650 people gathered at Fred Beekman Park on Friday and Saturday to raise money in the fight against cancer at the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life.
“The whole purpose of the relay is to honor cancer survivors, whether it be someone who’s lost a battle or someone who’s still fighting,” said Lissa Faulkner, the project manager for Ohio State’s Relay for Life.
Relay for Life is an international event in which participants make up teams of 10 to 15 people and take turns walking a track for 24 hours to raise money for cancer research, Faulkner said.
“The whole idea behind it is that cancer never sleeps and that it’s always a 24 hour thing,” Faulkner said. “It’s like a day in the life of a cancer survivor and it’s nice to have a celebration in the honor and memory of a cancer victim.”
The 62 teams that attended raised donations through friends and family. Each individual team member had a goal of raising $100, Faulkner said.
Coming into the event, the teams had raised over $50,000, Faulkner said. The total amount raised will be determined this week.
In Franklin County alone, there are 10 relays held each year. The relay at OSU, which is in its third year, is unique because the majority of the participants are college students, Faulkner said.
“No other relay is like this,” Faulkner said, “We have so many college students coming out to fight cancer and this is huge.”
On Friday night, the teams participated in the luminary ceremony at sundown. Candles were placed in white bags adorned with a sticker in memory of individuals who have survived or died from cancer, Faulkner said. The white bags were placed all along the track and then the candles were lit. While the participants walked the track, the names of the victims were read aloud.
“It’s just a time to look back and just to honor the whole entire purpose we are here,” Faulkner said. “It’s a way for someone to memorialize that person.”
Many of the participants camped out all night in tents. Some also participated in a variety of different activities that were offered such as volleyball tournaments, euchre tournaments, a pie eating contest and a karaoke contest.
“We raise a lot of money that probably wouldn’t get raised any other way and we also make it fun to raise the money,” said Alicia Highland, a student and co-chair of the Spirits and Events Committee involved with organizing the games at the relay.
Participants wrote personal messages on balloon tags for loved ones who battled cancer, and hundreds of the balloons were released at once, Faulkner said.
“I like the fact that there are people here who may not have been affected by cancer but still want to help the cause,” said Anna Wilkinson, an OSU staff member who attended the event.
