Annual event still accepting donations to fight cancer
USC students and others raised more than $82,000 for the American Cancer Society during this weekend’s Relay for Life event at Blatt Field.
Particpants in Relay for Life raise money before, during and after the event. According to the most recent results, $82,000 was raised, with $7,000 of that amount coming from the event alone. Team Jameson raised the most money, accumulating $9,460.05.
Lauren Hebert, the event’s chairwoman, said that they are still raising funds to reach their final goal of $100,000.
“It’s really ambitious but I think we can do it,” Herbert said. Donations can be made on relayforlife.org/usc until Aug. 31.
Teams came out to walk laps around the field to raise funds for the cause. Luminaries, white paper bags representing someone who fought or died from cancer, were positioned in a large rectangle so people would walk around them.
A total of 67 teams had registered for the event. Even though 1,329 students registered online, more than 2,000 people were in attendance, Hebert said.
“All the students and community members who came out were fantastic,” said the fourth-year public relations student. “Relay for Life is about fighting cancer and having fun, and I think the event was successful in both endeavors.”
This year, Relay For Life went with a superheroes theme because it had meaning to the cause, said the event’s entertainment chairwoman Olivia Hubert.
“The symbolism behind it is that the cancer survivors are heroes for fighting cancer,” said Hubert, a fourth-year public relations student. “We want to relay that by fighting back for them.”
Student organizations catered to the theme by having their tents represent superheroes. The Carolina Judicial Council, for example, went with a Captain America theme.
“We thought he represents the values of American justice as we promote the tenants of the Carolina Creed on campus,” said Elena Faria, the organization’s vice president of administration.
Faria, a second-year broadcast journalism student, said that doing Relay for Life is a great thing to take part in because “we can all unite in this cause.”
The Delta Sigma Theta sorority members went with a Charlie’s Angels spoof, calling themselves Delta’s Angels for the event.
“The theme is fitting to us,” said president Chloe’ Greene. “We’re devastating divas and decided to have fun with it.”
Greene, a fourth-year history student, said participating in Relay For Life is “near and dear to her heart” because her grandfather passed away from cancer.
“I think it’s a rewarding experience. Everyone should participate,” Greene said.
The Blatt Field was animated with life as people threw footballs, had barbecues and played corn hole. Others smeared pie in one another’s faces.
“Everyone’s having bake sales for a fundraiser, so we wanted to do something different,” said Alpha Epilson Pi Vice President Jeffrey Schwartz. His fraternity had a “Pie-a-Pi” gig, in which for one dollar you could smear cream pie into a fraternity member’s face.
“Who doesn’t want to hit someone in the face with a pie for the low price of a dollar?” Schwartz asked.
Festivities aside, Relay For Life still honored those who have died from cancer and those still living with the disease.
At 10 p.m., candles were placed and lit in the luminaries as the main lights in the field were turned off, so only the candle lights were seen illuminating the night. A moment of silence was held in honor of all those affected by cancer.
“The thing that kills me is that one bag is a person but that one bag has affected more people than we can think of because cancer affects everybody,” said Richard Craven, a third year chemistry student.