Creating a world with more birthdays.
That’s the goal Stephanie Willis, co-chair with Christina Geska of Fredonia’s Relay for Life, has set for this year’s fundraiser benefiting the American Cancer Society that the campus will launch in Steele Hall Arena on Saturday, April 16, beginning 4 p.m. It will continue for a spirited 12 hours, until 4 a.m. on Sunday, April 17.
Lumiaria ceremony
Thirty-two teams comprised of 405 participants had signed up and raised $12,600 by March 31. The monetary tally has increased daily, Ms. Willis reported, having grown from $5,000 on Sunday, March 20, to $7,500 on Wednesday, March 23.
“Last year, we raised over $33,000, and this year we are aiming higher,” Willis said on the eve of the fundraiser’s 10th anniversary at Fredonia. “I am pushing to make this our biggest relay yet,” she added. Willis has been involved with Relay for Life for the last 13 years, and this will mark her fourth and final year with Fredonia’s event.
“This year, as chair, I am hoping we can break records and bring our campus and community together in a huge way for this amazing cause,” she said.
As a lead-in to Relay for Life, Colleges Against Cancer and the Faculty Student Association will stage, “Paint Cranston Purple,” featuring purple-themed food and a cupcake tree, on Friday, April 15, from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. at Cranston Marché. Diners are encouraged to wear purple. At a table outside of Cranston, students can become part of an official luminaria video by indicating why they are planning to participate in the relay.
Relay for Life, created by a partnership involving the student organization Colleges Against Cancer and the Buffalo chapter of the American Cancer Society, is the world’s largest fundraising effort that supports the American Cancer Society in its battle against cancer.
Three main ceremonies – celebrate, remember and fight back – tie together the Fredonia event. Each ceremony represents a different stage in a cancer patient’s life, so participating teams are encouraged to remain in the arena through the early hours of Sunday morning to represent the fight towards remission. Registration is $20 per person. Teams can sign up at www.relayforlife.org/sunyfredoniany.
An opening ceremony at 5 p.m. focuses on celebrating survivors, honoring Fredonia’s top teams and setting the tempo for the rest of the evening. In the luminaria ceremony starting at 9 p.m., those who have been lost to cancer and others who are still fighting the disease will be the focus of attention. Luminaria will line the Steele Hall track as participants walk in solidarity towards a world free of cancer.
Fredonia President Virginia Horvath will speak to help kick off the opening ceremony. Throughout the night current students, faculty and staff who are cancer survivors will speak.
Food tables, luminaria tables, a photo booth and assorted games, contests and performances will be offered to participants.
Many teams will stage mini birthday-themed parties as their on-site fundraisers to commemorate the event’s 10-year Fredonia anniversary. That also dovetails with the American Cancer Society’s goal of creating a world that has more birthdays to celebrate.
