This Saturday, April 27, the Kent State Fieldhouse will be flooded with hope. From 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. students and community members are encouraged to participate in Relay for Life events to fundraise for The American Cancer Society.
During the 12 hours, there will be events throughout the day and night that KSU students and Kent residents are all welcome to participate in.
“It is free to come, you don’t necessarily need to be on a team or pay money to come. If you just want to come check it out you are more than welcome to,” said Abigail Lilli, a senior marketing major and co-president of Relay For Life KSU.
Lilli and fellow co-president, Danielle Brugh, a senior early childhood education major, have been planning this relay since last year’s event. They both laughed and simultaneously said, “a lot” when asked how much work goes into planning.
To prepare their committee, Lilli and Brugh took their team to The Hope Lodge in Cleveland. The Hope Lodge is a part of The American Cancer Society program that provides a free home away from home for cancer patients and their caregivers.
“It is nice to take them [new committee members] to Hope Lodge to kinda see where their money is going, and it's giving them a purpose if they haven’t had a family member who’s been affected by cancer it actually gives them a purpose and feel like they are really doing something,” Lillie said.
With a goal of $50,000, the two seniors hope to “go big or go home” for their last Relay here at Kent State. Teams, as well as individuals, have already gotten the ball rolling on fundraising. According to the Kent State Relay website, the top raising teams so far are Chi Omega with $4,089 and PIrates of the Cureibbean (Phi Sigma Pi) with $3,070 (Fundraising numbers as of April 24). They have already raised over $20,000, and with most of their raising typically coming from the day of the event, Lilli and Brugh are confident in making their goal with the help of the Kent community.
For more information on how to get involved, visit Relay For Life’s KSU website.
The schedule of events of the day (subject to change):
11 a.m. - Relay begins
11:30 a.m. - Opening ceremony
12 p.m. - Survivor and caregiver lunch, Mario Kart
1 p.m. - Lip sync battle
2 p.m. - Kickball tournament
3 p.m. - Musically chairs scavenger hunt
4 p.m. - Olympic games
5 p.m. - Cornhole tournament
6 p.m. - Vocal Intensity performance
7 p.m. - Trackside trivia
8 p.m. - Yoga
9 p.m. - Luminaria ceremony
10 p.m. - Relay dance party
10:30 p.m. - Closing ceremony and awards
11 p.m. - Last lap of 2019 and first lap of 2020
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