Schools all across the province and the country participate in the Relay for Life fundraiser in support of the Canadian Cancer Society. But what is Relay for Life? If you’ve never heard of it or are unclear about what exactly Relay for Life is, Relay is essentially a year-long (or school-year-long) fundraiser that often ends in a 12-hour event to cap off fundraising. All the funds raised go to supporting current and former cancer patients as well as cancer research.
In schools, Relay for Life is a team fundraiser where students create their own teams and organize different fundraising initiatives like bake sales, car washes, trivia nights, raffles, and so on. Former Sacred Heart student Caitlin Bauer recently co-chaired the Relay for Life event at Carleton University. This year, Carleton University had 58 teams participate this year and over 450 participants. Throughout the school year leading up to the event, these participants raised over $75,000. One of Carleton’s most successful Relays to date.
Because of the pandemic, this is the first year that Relay for Life is back in person. Many people don’t know what a Relay for Life event looks like, so let us take you through the night at Carleton! The event started with an Opening Ceremony. Here, the organization committee usually highlights the fundraising goal, the amount fundraised to date, some rules for the night, and any other important information. At Carleton’s relay, the committee explained that because they had hit their $75,000 goal before the event, they were bumping it up to $125,000 for the night! They also reminded participants that each team should have one person walking or running a lap at all times. That is where the “relay” part of Relay for Life comes in, the final event is like a relay race where team members pass along a baton to make sure someone from their team is always on the track.
After the committee got everyone started, they welcomed a few guest speakers to the stage. The first speaker was survivor and relay participant Jakob Bouse. Jakob was diagnosed with a brain tumour back in 2015 when he was in grade six. He explained how at first he had symptoms that just made it hard for him to do everyday tasks and to do the things he loved like playing hockey. When he found out that these symptoms were the result of a tumour, he wasn’t scared; he knew he was going to be able to fight the cancer. During his speech, Jakob explained how from the end of grade six until grade eight, he would go to chemotherapy every Friday and then still try to go back to school and have a normal school day.
This is why Relay for Life is so important within the school and in our country. Many of the people who battle cancer every day are students or peers that are just normal kids who like to play hockey or hang out with their friends. People’s “normal” lives are flipped upside down when they are given a cancer diagnosis, so organizations like the Canadian Cancer Society are crucial in giving patients and survivors the resources they need.
Another speaker at the opening ceremony was Dustin Rivers. He works with the Carleton University Student Association (CUSA) and is also a cancer survivor of multiple myeloma, a blood cell cancer. Dustin shared his emotional story of battling cancer and receiving a stem cell transplant that allowed him to live long enough to see his son Micheal grow up, something that might not have been possible just five or ten years ago. Dustin brought his son with him to the event so they both could say thank you on behalf of CUSA and their family for the work that participants and Relay for Life have done. This again just goes to show the impact that Relay for Life and the Canadian Cancer Society have and how we can all make a difference if we come together.
After all the speakers had shared, the two co-chairs, Caitlin Bauer and Alex Tassoni took the stage to start off the event. Alex, got the relay kicked off by announcing the survivor's lap which is the traditional first lap of Relay for Life where all the survivors in attendance do a lap by themselves while all the other participants cheer them on. After the survivors finish their first lap, everyone joins in and all the participants and survivors do a lap together. From then on, there were many other events, games, and fundraisers for participants to do, as long as someone from their team was still walking of course!
Similar to what Jacob mentioned in his opening speech, cancer survivor Val Laframboise shared,
“I was diagnosed with cancer in 2015 and I had been participating in Relay for Life before that and now I’m participating as a survivor since then. It’s a great connection and a great way to show to people out there that cancer can happen to younger people as well.”
Part of what makes Relay for Life such an incredible organization is the impact it can have on the youth. High School and University students learn so much about cancer research and the Canadian Cancer Society through Relay for Life and they get to meet amazing and inspiring people through the events that Relay puts on. It is a great way to connect youth with survivors, and those battling cancer so that no one feels alone and people realize that this can happen to anyone.
There are many different activities planned throughout the relay event such as midnight yoga to keep everyone awake, minute-to-win-it games such as balloon popping, and even a Latin dance lesson! Some of the ongoing activities included giant Jenga, a video game booth, pie-ing your friends in the face, and some waxing, shaving, and hair-cutting fundraisers. But the most important activity going on for the first half of the night was the luminary decorating table.
A luminary is a small white bag with a tea light placed inside. A key part of every Relay for Life event is a luminary ceremony where the track is lined with these luminaries and the lights are turned down. This part of the night is the “honouring those who are no longer here” section of the event. Luminaries are decorated however you’d like but often include the phrase “I relay for…” followed by a friend, family member, stranger, celebrity, or anyone impacted by cancer that you are relaying for. Some people also write impactful statements like “I relay for those who cannot” or “I relay for a cure” on their luminaries.
The luminary ceremony is an eye-opening experience. It is a moment that puts into perspective the statistics. You can read that 2 in 5 Canadians will be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime, and that is a scary number, but as you are walking around the track full of luminaries with different names all over them, some with multiple names written across them, it is clear just how many people are impacted by cancer and how many lives the horrible disease has impacted. Perhaps the most impactful part of the luminary ceremony though was seeing the way everyone came together. People would take time in front of certain luminaries. They would sit or stand and sometimes talk to the luminary, or just cry. You would pass someone alone at a luminary and by the time you came back around on your next lap they would be in a group hug or have someone sitting with them. The luminary ceremony brought people together and showed that no one is alone battling cancer, and no one is alone after the battle is over.
Carleton University finished off its Relay for Life event with their final total raised tallying $118,680.54. Although Scared Heart’s grand total likely won’t be as high as that, our school has already raised over $3,000 with various fundraisers and the Husky co-chairs Nick Ebner and Hillary Bohem-Edwards plan to ramp up fundraising for one final push before our school’s own event on June 1st. So next time you see a Relay for Life bake sale, or fundraiser around our school, remember how many lives the funds raised through this event can touch and how big of an impact your donation could make.