Relay for Life

Wesley Sparkmon

Over $34,000 was raised by Relay for Life over the month long fundraising efforts campus-wide, which culminated in the Relay for Life sleepover held Friday night in the Lyceum Circle.

Relay for Life was established in 1985 when Dr. Gordy Klatt, a colorectal surgeon in Tacoma, Wash., ran or walked around a track for 24 hours to raise money for the American Cancer Society. Since then, Relay of Life has grown into the largest movement to cure cancer. The ceremonies around the country include lighting of luminaries by participants in memory of friends and family who have died from cancer, as well as the stories of cancer survivors in the respective areas.

Over 400 participants on 36 teams attended the Relay for Life, 12 more teams and numerous more participants than previous years according to Jamie Osman, American Cancer Society representative at the University of Mississippi. The relay lasted from 9 p.m. until 2:30 a.m, when it was called off due to a rainout.

“This year particularly I noticed that more people stayed later into the night than before and we had a larger crowd for our ceremonies,” Osman said. “This year we were able to reach more people on campus through the help of the Chancellor and a few on campus survivors. Ole Miss Brand Marketing was kind enough to help us make a few videos to promote the event. Every year we are able to add a few new elements drawing even more attention to the fight against cancer.” With a large number of people, dividing them into teams was done to help control crowds and the amount of responsibility on the heads of the events. Each team had one or two captains to act in the capacities of collecting money, organizing the events to raise money, decorations the night of, and recruitment of committees for each of the activities.

“I have family members who have had cancer, so I figured it was a good way to help bring about a cause,” Pharmacy Team Co-Captain Anne Claire Freeman said. “I have a lot of friends throughout pharmacy who would help get involved and help spread the word.”

The University Of Mississippi School Of Pharmacy sponsored a team this year and found many interesting ways to fundraise. One such way was to hold a concert by a local Elvis tribute band, the leader of which is a pharmacist himself. The junior class held a cookout at the Ole Miss Rebels baseball game against Samford. A large collection jug was placed in the pharmacy student lounge as well. Efforts such as these and others led to the School of Pharmacy raising the third-highest amount of money for a team, totaling $2,831.13.

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