A Night of Impacts

On Saturday, March 28, community members flooded into the school for the 11th annual Relay For Life. Community members participated in student-led booths and ceremonies from 5-9 p.m. to contribute to the $75,120 raised by the event for the American Cancer Society.

Each year, Relay For Life starts with an opening ceremony where guest speakers can share how cancer affected their lives. After the ceremony, community members are able to buy and spend tickets at different activity booths in the auxiliary gym, and can also participate in the silent auction or the crowning of Mr. Relay.

Community member Ella Cooper decided to come to Relay For Life with her friends.

“My favorite part is seeing all the high schoolers support this cause,” Cooper said. “It makes me really happy, because [when] you look around at this event, you see everyone in the community around here.”

Although the event was only open to the public until 9 p.m., students who were able to individually raise $100 had the opportunity to stay until 4 a.m. Those students were able to do a multitude of activities, such as playing games like knockout or doing Zumba.

Senior Rachel Joseph was able to stay the night and enjoyed doing the silent disco the most.

“I really liked how everyone was able to choose which songs they wanted to listen to together,” Joseph said. “The silent disco really helped bring the energy up late at night when everyone was tired, and it kept the atmosphere positive.”

Community member Ruby Backstrom believes that the most critical part of Relay For Life is the community it brings people.

“Events like [Relay For Life] are important because it raises awareness in communities,” Backstrom said. “Not only is it giving to the cause, but it’s also gathering the community together as an event, and that’s always a good thing.”

Community Collaboration

Relay For Life is only possible through the community coming together: people across the area donate time, services and money in order to make the night a success.

Chaperones donate their time by advising and monitoring the students during the event. According to Relay For Life Chair sophomore Max Hannah, without chaperones, the event couldn’t happen.

“Chaperones are very important towards the safety of our events, and they make sure that nobody’s going to parts of the school where they shouldn’t be,” Hannah said. “They make sure that the event runs smoothly and we don’t have any problems, so we can focus on raising money for the American Cancer Society.”

Guest speakers and cancer survivors also have the opportunity to come to the event and share their stories with students about their fight against cancer.

Cancer survivors and their families are welcomed to the Survivor Dinner, where they can meet other cancer survivors to share their stories with them and students. Community member and cancer survivor Jean Huber enjoyed this aspect of the Survivor Dinner.

“The thing I liked most about the dinner was meeting other people and survivors,” Huber said. “It is important for people to acknowledge the trials and tribulations that people have to go through with cancer.”

Members of the community also donate their time on the night of Relay For Life. The Andiamo Gelato Italian Market, run by Gregg and Marni Bollella, set up their food truck both this year and last year, and they donated a portion of their sales to the fundraiser.

“Our kids go to the school, and we think Relay For Life is a great cause,” Gregg said. “I think the community impacts Relay For Life by showing up and spending their money, because they give [the school] the support you need to be able to do it.”

According to Hannah, community involvement is crucial to the success of the event.

“More community involvement has allowed Relay For Life to grow, because without the amount of patrons that we have involved, we wouldn’t be able to raise as much money for the American Cancer Society every year,” Hannah said. “Having over $816,000 raised in the past 11 years is a great number, and it shows how evolved the event is now compared to what it originally was.”

Beyond the cash donations, people in the community can also donate items or services to the silent auction that goes to the event’s total. Photographer Whitney Benson decided to donate a photography package to help the cause.

“I always try to donate something to Relay For Life,” Benson said. “[Relay For Life] is a big thing that the school is known for because the students do such a great job of raising so much money. I feel like [donating] was a very small thing I could do, but I was very happy to do it.”

Even last year, when the Relay For Life committee was just short of their donation goal, the community stepped up to help them reach the amount, according to Relay For Life Chair senior Lilly Feuerborn.

“Last year, we weren’t exactly at our goal until we reached out to the community and asked for last minute donations,” Feuerborn said. “We ended up having people from the community that donated, and then they ended up reaching the goal of $100,000.”

A Glowing Success

The money raised at Relay For Life allows the American Cancer Society to fund cancer research and give out transportation grants, free lodging and health equity for people who are battling cancer or have lost their loved ones to cancer.

Chaperone Molly Hinners Bierl appreciates Relay For Life’s contributions and saw the community come together firsthand to help donate.

“[Relay] gives back to the community,” Hinners Bierl said. “It’s direct dollars back to people living with and going through cancer.”

The continued community impact and funding for Relay For Life allows the school to keep the event going, and Feuerborn believes that the fun and anticipation surrounding the event are one reason why the community continues to help out each year.

“I remember when Relay For Life first started, and we obviously weren’t raising as much as we are now,” Feuerborn said. “I think that now the community knows it happens each year, and they look forward to it, especially because we visit the [elementary] schools and the kids get excited.”

Hinners Bierl also believes that the donations that Relay For Life gives back to the community makes them want to continue to support the event year after year.

“This community is excellent and interwoven,” Hinners Bierl said. “You don’t know somebody who hasn’t been touched by cancer, and all these small communities doing these little things to help each one of their neighbors is huge.”