Relay for Life's "Operation Hope" brings crowd to quad
Margaret Freeland
Issue date: 10/1/09 Section: News
Students and community members joined hands in the battle against cancer last Saturday during Hillsdale College's seventh annual Relay for Life. This year's theme was "Operation Hope," echoing the international Relay for Life motto: "Celebrate. Remember. Fight Back."
Junior Amanda Snider serves as executive director of the American Cancer Society GOAL program, which organized the relay. Snider's involvement has a personal reason: during her freshman year in college, her mother was diagnosed with leukemia.
"Directing the American Cancer Society Relay for Life GOAL program provides me an opportunity to combine philanthropic efforts with a cause I believe in," Snider said.
Because it is a mini-relay, the college event is not as focused on fundraising as full-length, 24-hour relays are. Snider stressed that this relay is a time for students to support and comfort cancer victims, as well as meet others who are passionate to find a cure for cancer.
Last year, 15 teams of students and community members, including 11 cancer survivors, participated in the campus Relay for Life. This year's event had 18 teams, who decorated tables with posters and encouraging phrases.
The Chi Omega sorority table honored relatives and friends battling cancer, as well as cancer survivor Olga Muñiz, assistant professor of Spanish, and cancer victims Terry Reisch and Lauren Hemming, for whom Chi Omega named their team.
Most of the freshman participants walked with their dorm team, and many upperclassmen were too busy to participate, junior Mary Miles said, explaining the difficulty her team had in finding participants.
"But for me, this is important enough to put homework aside," she said.
Miles walked in memory of a pen pal who died of cancer and two grandparents currently fighting the disease.
Junior Amanda Snider serves as executive director of the American Cancer Society GOAL program, which organized the relay. Snider's involvement has a personal reason: during her freshman year in college, her mother was diagnosed with leukemia.
"Directing the American Cancer Society Relay for Life GOAL program provides me an opportunity to combine philanthropic efforts with a cause I believe in," Snider said.
Because it is a mini-relay, the college event is not as focused on fundraising as full-length, 24-hour relays are. Snider stressed that this relay is a time for students to support and comfort cancer victims, as well as meet others who are passionate to find a cure for cancer.
Last year, 15 teams of students and community members, including 11 cancer survivors, participated in the campus Relay for Life. This year's event had 18 teams, who decorated tables with posters and encouraging phrases.
The Chi Omega sorority table honored relatives and friends battling cancer, as well as cancer survivor Olga Muñiz, assistant professor of Spanish, and cancer victims Terry Reisch and Lauren Hemming, for whom Chi Omega named their team.
Most of the freshman participants walked with their dorm team, and many upperclassmen were too busy to participate, junior Mary Miles said, explaining the difficulty her team had in finding participants.
"But for me, this is important enough to put homework aside," she said.
Miles walked in memory of a pen pal who died of cancer and two grandparents currently fighting the disease.
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