Relay for Life preparations begin

By: Krisn Modi

Posted: 11/18/08

The American Cancer Society's UConn affiliate, Colleges Against Cancer, will begin planning for April's Relay for Life campaign tonight with the Team Captains' Rally. It is also hosting it's annual event, the Great American Smoke Out, this week.

"Relay For Life is a unique opportunity for the UConn community to come together to fight back against cancer," said Courtney Collins, a 7th-semester pharmacy major and president of the Colleges Against Cancer chapter at UConn. "It is an overnight event, celebrating those who have won the battle against cancer, and remembering those who we have lost."

The Team Captains' Rally will be held at 8 p.m. in the Student Union, room 304A, to provide interested participants with information about Relay for Life and to begin register teams. Teams usually comprise eight to 15 people, with one person designated as Team Captain, Collins said. The Captain is responsible for organizing fundraising and team members. Weekly meetings for captains will be held every Tuesday.

Shannon Stahecki, The American Cancer Society representative for UConn, believes it is very important for students to get involved in the fight against cancer.

"It is important for students to get involved because they can make a difference in the lives of others and they can save a life, perhaps even their own," Stahecki said. "When a student is a part of Colleges Against Cancer and supporting one of the several programs that have been done on campus already this year, they are educating other students about a habit they can change to reduce their risk. For instance, if the students on Monday are educating the UConn community on tobacco and what it does to a person to increase their risk of cancer, gets even one person to quit. They have saved a life. That is powerful."

On Monday, several students, including Ashley Grenier, a 1st-semester political science major, took part in one of Colleges Against Cancer's events, The Great American Smoke Out. Grenier is a strong advocate of placing garbage cans farther away from building entrances so that everyone that wants to enter a place like the Student Union or library does not have to breathe in the smoke fumes.

"Students should get involved because change starts with one person," Grenier said. "By donating one dollar or even reading information, a seed for change is planted and students will be forced to think about change. By thinking, a difference will be made for the betterment of society and that is all we can hope for."

College Against Cancer raised over $98,000 last year. The UConn chapter is one of the largest chapters in all of New England, and this year they hope to surpass last year's tally by raising $102,000.

Relay for Life will take place on April 17th and 18th of 2009.