The rain didn’t stop a large crowd from gathering for USC’s Relay For Life at Blatt Fields Friday at 7 p.m. to support the American Cancer Society in their goal to raise money to fund cancer research.
And, in total, USC Relay raised $164,136.42 through USC’s Relay For Life 2015.
Taylor Boucher, a member of Relay’s exec board, was the top fundraiser of the night, bringing in $4,168.79 in total.
This year marked the 30th anniversary of Relay For Life and, according to Lagarde, it was a chance to celebrate through a throwback theme. Each team celebrated a different decade or time period and fundraisers and games corresponded with those themes.
For 12 hours beginning at 7 p.m. on Friday night, students, faculty and Relay For Life supporters walked laps around Blatt Fields in order to fundraise for the American Cancer Society.
"I was so excited to see teams stick it out through the rain for the duration of the event," Kristy Lagarde, a fourth-year public health student and USC Relay’s director of external affairs,said. "I was almost expecting the event to suffer due to the weather, but the rain didn't seem to bother anyone."
Participants this year were welcomed to the event with the opening ceremony after which, the Relay officially began with the survivor lap, where survivors of cancer walked to celebrate their victory over cancer. The next lap was the caregiver lap, during which those who had taken care of cancer patients were invited to walk. Finally, the rest of the Relay participants were invited to walk together during the official opening lap.
Of the 85 teams and 1,658 community members that participated, each was asked to leave one member of their group walking the track at all time as a representation of the fact that cancer never stops, but there were far more on the track during any given moment.
Throughout the night, various performers took the stage, like musical guests East of Apollo and We Are Nepotism, a Ms. Relay Pageant hosted by BGLSA and a Jimmy Fallon style lip-sync competition.
Luminaria bags were lit around the track during the Luminaria Ceremony as participants walked laps in almost silence to honors those who had passed from cancer or those who were still fighting the disease.
The night ended with the Fight Back Ceremony. This final lap encouraged relayers to “take action and spread awareness of cancer research, treatments and prevention,” according to their website.
"We lit paper bags with candles around the track to honor and remember those who have fought cancer," Lagarde said. "It's always a very emotional experience to see the entire track lined with these luminaria as it shows just how many people are affected by cancer."