Relay for Life

By Samuel Ogunyoye

It is very hard to get something out of such a devastating disease such as cancer. There are few things that have a more chilling effect than hearing that one has been diagnosed with any form of cancer. 

However, with events such as Relay for Life, it makes the process a little bit easier to go through. It also gives people living with this disease a sense of hope that they can overcome it if they would just have some support from people that organize events such as Relay for Life.

Relay for Life started on Frostburg State University’s campus 12 years ago for the American Cancer Society to serve as a fundraiser for people battling cancer and the people taking care of them. According to Frostburg State University’s website, Relay for Life has raised a total of $400,000 since the marathon came to the school.

While driving on University Drive of FSU’s campus, one could not help but notice the crowd of people gathered on the university’s football field.  The smell of burgers and hotdogs overtook the air as the multitude of people began to file in.“It was like a festival” Kerry Anyikude described the event as. He continued by saying that “I love it when students are gathering around for a beneficial cause, especially since you know that you are having an impact on someone’s life”. About 800 people registered to walk before the event started. When the event was into fruition, more than a thousand people in all came out to support. An FSU student described Relay for Life as being “chilling”, and also said it was “very emotional” for her because her uncle is a prostate cancer survivor. 

As the event went into the night and it began to get chilly, blankets started to come out being pulled out as a lot of the students were working at the different vendors. People were still walking around the track while people were getting in line for some hot chocolate and cookies to get comfortable from the cold air. People were also getting entertained by a local artist named Dunson as he was performing with his band that consisted of a drummer and keyboardist. While instrumentals of today’s most popular songs such as “Started from the Bottom” by drake and “Birthday Song” by 2 Chainz was playing, Dunson was freestyling. At the same time, his drummer and keyboardist were playing along with the instrumentals. People seemed very attentive with the performance. As he was still performing, copies of his mix tape were being handed out to everyone in attendance.

It was getting late, and the number of people started to dwindle down. Some of the students had to work into the night. One of the students who worked it last year said it was not easy to be up all night working. However, he said “it was worth it because you don’t really get a chance to impact people’s lives like this”. 

Indeed, the Relay for Life will have an impact on many people’s lives, especially if it is going to continue the increasing pattern that the event has been on for the past few years. According to the University’s website, Relay for life reached another record of the amount of approximately sixty-thousand dollars.

For more information on Relay for Life, please visit http://www.relayforlife.org/