Relay For Life

Today is the Relay For Life of Cumberland County here in Fayetteville. Relay For Life is the premiere fundraising event for the American Cancer Society and holds a special place in my heart. Pretty much everyone these days has been affected by cancer: friends, family, colleagues have heard those words, “You have cancer.”

I Relay to create a world with more birthdays and hopefully no cancer. My father’s twin brother passed away from pancreatic cancer in 2005. A sorority sister has been battling leukemia since 2007. My cousin was diagnosed with lymphoma in 2008. They inspired me to start fundraising with Relay when I started college. Relay at Virginia Tech is a huge deal. We’ve had the largest collegiate Relay event for years. Like raising $500,000 with 5000+ participants a year huge. I served as a team captain for Alpha Gam my last two years of college. This really increased my passion for this amazing event. I attended team captain meetings and learned so much more about what the American Cancer Society does with those funds. They’ve funded Nobel Prize-winning research and helped support Survivors and families through their cancer journey.

So today, I will Relaying for the last time here in Fayetteville and serving as the Logistics chair. The weather looks to be clearing up, and the tornado watch is about to expire. If you’re in the area, come on out to our event at Jack Britt High School. Opening ceremonies start at 6 pm. Otherwise, consider helping me out and donating to my team. Let’s create a world with more birthdays.