Relay for Life slated for Dec. 3 at UT

December 1, 2016 | Events, UToday
By Carly Wiegand



Relay for Life will be held Saturday, Dec 3, from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. at The University of Toledo Student Recreation Center.

The theme of this year’s event is “Remembering the Past, Fighting the Present, and Curing the Future: Relay Through the Ages.”

Relay for life 2016Relay for Life offers community members an opportunity to participate in the fight against cancer. Teams of individuals take turns walking or running around a track. Each team is asked to set a fundraising goal and have a representative on the track at all times during the event. 

Relay for Life started at UT in 2001. Each year, more than 1,300 students participate in this 12-hour overnight event on campus to help raise money to fight cancer.

The Relay for Life’s organizing committee has a goal of 2,000 participants, according to UT student Kylee Peppers, external director for this year’s event.

“Our event has continued to grow throughout the years, and with the way The University of Toledo as a whole is growing, we believe that 2,000 participants are easily attainable,” Peppers said. “If we were to meet our goal of 2,000 participants, it would help us further our mission and surpass our fundraising goal by that much more.”

This year’s goal is to raise $60,000, according to UT student Katie Smith, administrative director of the event.

“We’ve been working on reaching our goal throughout the semester by holding fundraising events — bake sales, restaurant fundraisers, a 5K — and by encouraging individuals to get donations from family and friends, and by selling luminaries that people can decorate in honor or memory of someone who has battled cancer,” Smith said.

So far, more than 54 teams numbering more than 1,700 have raised some $38,000.

The event will start by celebrating survivors. There also will be a ceremony halfway through the event that honors loved ones; participants have the chance to share why they “Relay.”

This year’s Relay for Life has plenty of activities for participants.

UT student Mitch Hering, internal director of the event, said, “We hope to keep Relay participants busy all night long with a wide variety of games, activities, entertainment and food options.”

Toby Bolte, UT student and director of this year’s Relay for Life on campus, hopes that students take a lot from this event: “We want students to have a fun time and be entertained and at the same time understand how cancer affects everyone. Cancer has touched every single person, and we want to appreciate the survivors and caregivers. Most important, we want to honor all those we have lost to cancer.”

For more information about Relay for Life, email relayforlifeutoledo@gmail.com.

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