This weekend I participated in Relay For Life 2010 with my team from SU "Colleges Against Cancer." It was quite and experience, but done for a great cause. All together the event raised over $26,000 to donate to the American Cancer Society to research for a cure! My team individually raised almost $5, 000 making us the highest donating team at the event! I am so proud to be a part of that group!For those of you who don't know Relay For Life is an event put on by the American Cancer Society organization in which groups of people get together and raise money to donate to cancer research. Many individual teams participate and on "relay day" we all get together and walk around a track for 20 hours celebrating the lives of people who are living with cancer and remembering those who have lost the fight. There must be at least one person walking the track at all times symbolizing that people with cancer never get to take a break. It is a very powerful message that we try and get across, and hope that someday there will be a cure so these people can live their lives in peace.
Although it is a serious event, we like to make it fun as well. This time we had a talent show to win $250 to donate to your team. My friend Alyssa and I thought, hmmm "shoot we have talent, let's enter" so what did we do? We got up in front of hundreds of people wearing big red and black tutu's we made and did the "Line Dance"that I learned at Dance Marathon this last February. Alyssa didn't know it before hand, so I taught it to her in about an hour the day before, and lo and behold we win the darn thing! Are you surprised? Well we were for sure, because there were some really good people there! It was pretty but we were super excited because on top of the $250 we also won 12 liters of iced tea! Probably one of the best prizes I have ever one on a hot summer day!
As it got later and later into the night (keep in mind the event went from noon on saturday to 8am sunday morning) it started to get cold, but we kept on walking. Eventually a few of us decided to take a quick nap to recharge and it was so freezing in the tent that we were imitating lines from the titanic instead of being able to sleep! Luckily our team captain's name was Jack to it made the "Jack, I'm so cold" lines sound more legit.. haha. Not to mention that I forgot to bring socks and only had flip flops which broke on me around 11 o'clock that night, so I had to makeshift a pair of gloves into socks to keep my feet warm while walking around the track... you really just had to see it to find the humor.
However, one of the most powerful moments that keep everyone going is the Luminaria Ceremony that happens at night during the event, where you decorate and write the name of someone you know that was affected by cancer on a bag a they are all set out around the track and lit up with candles that glow throughout the night, representing our loved ones. You look around and see hundreds of glowing bags and remember that you are doing this for them, and that is motivation enough.
It was a very eventful event, but we all had a ton of fun while doing something very rewarding at the same time. If you know someone fighting cancer, or have ever lost a loved one to it you know how devastating it can be so encourage any of you to find a Relay For Life event close to you and participate in it, it's something you won't ever forget.
Although it is a serious event, we like to make it fun as well. This time we had a talent show to win $250 to donate to your team. My friend Alyssa and I thought, hmmm "shoot we have talent, let's enter" so what did we do? We got up in front of hundreds of people wearing big red and black tutu's we made and did the "Line Dance"that I learned at Dance Marathon this last February. Alyssa didn't know it before hand, so I taught it to her in about an hour the day before, and lo and behold we win the darn thing! Are you surprised? Well we were for sure, because there were some really good people there! It was pretty but we were super excited because on top of the $250 we also won 12 liters of iced tea! Probably one of the best prizes I have ever one on a hot summer day!
As it got later and later into the night (keep in mind the event went from noon on saturday to 8am sunday morning) it started to get cold, but we kept on walking. Eventually a few of us decided to take a quick nap to recharge and it was so freezing in the tent that we were imitating lines from the titanic instead of being able to sleep! Luckily our team captain's name was Jack to it made the "Jack, I'm so cold" lines sound more legit.. haha. Not to mention that I forgot to bring socks and only had flip flops which broke on me around 11 o'clock that night, so I had to makeshift a pair of gloves into socks to keep my feet warm while walking around the track... you really just had to see it to find the humor.
However, one of the most powerful moments that keep everyone going is the Luminaria Ceremony that happens at night during the event, where you decorate and write the name of someone you know that was affected by cancer on a bag a they are all set out around the track and lit up with candles that glow throughout the night, representing our loved ones. You look around and see hundreds of glowing bags and remember that you are doing this for them, and that is motivation enough.
It was a very eventful event, but we all had a ton of fun while doing something very rewarding at the same time. If you know someone fighting cancer, or have ever lost a loved one to it you know how devastating it can be so encourage any of you to find a Relay For Life event close to you and participate in it, it's something you won't ever forget.
"En la memoria de mi abuela, Amalia Moreno"
May 26, 1931 - December 20, 2009
