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Kimberly Burnett
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Salem State will be holding the second Relay for Life 12-hour fundraising event beginning on April 20 at 6 pm. The relay will take place in the O’Keefe Center in Salem State’s campus.
Relay for Life, a nation-wide event that is sponsored by the American Cancer Society, is a walk-a-thon event with several ceremonies throughout the duration dedicated to different aspects of the fight against cancer. The event is hosted by Salem State’s student run group, Colleges Against Cancer (CAC).
The event will begin with the Survivor Lap/Opening Ceremonies, followed by the Luminaria and the Fight Back Ceremonies, and will end with the Closing Ceremony. There will be live music, games, and a variety of other activities designed to keep participants excited and involved.
To fundraise for the event, CAC promoted “Paint the Campus Purple”, a week-long event held on campus from March 26 to 30. The group held fun events on campus including egg hunts and bake sales.
The “Paint the Campus Purple” event raised over $3,300, and brought in over 50 participant registrations for the relay event. So far this year, Colleges Against Cancer has raised over $13,000, and registration for the relay has grown to over 180 participants. The group is also hoping to honor more survivors at the relay event than in their previous year.
“The most rewarding part of the Relay for Life is the appreciation that patients, caregivers, and survivors have for the work we do,” says Matt Eckhardt, Vice President of CAC. “I don’t do it for praise, but it’s really encouraging to see that our organization is making an impact in their lives.”
Colleges Against Cancer, the student run organization, was founded in 2016, and successfully hosted the first relay event last year. The group was created by Salem State students, Matt Eckhardt and Julia Marshall, both juniors. The group meets every week to plan activities for fundraising as well as events that will aid in educating the community about cancer.
“I think it’s important to give back to this cause because the American Cancer Society funds so much more than research” said Makenzie Marks, who walks in honor of her late grandfather. “There are a lot of patient programs that help families. This is just another way to help.”
Last year’s relay raised over $40,000 and hosted over 250 participants throughout the 24 hours. This year, CAC hopes to bring more members of the Salem State community to the event, and meet or exceed last year’s amount raised.
For questions, email cac.ssu@gmail.com, or visit this site for more information or to register for the Relay for Life event.