Fraternaty asks you to walk for life
By LESLIE-ANN HOLT
Sigma Alpha Epsilon is working with the American Cancer Society to plan the 24-hour Relay for Life fund-raiser.
Relay for Life brings together patients, medical support staff, corporations, civic organizations, churches and community volunteers to fight cancer.
Participants form teams of 10 to 16 people, and team members take turns walking or running on a track for 24 hours. Each team must keep one member on the track at all times, and each team member is asked to raise a minimum of $100.
"Teams can get creative and make it fun," SAE Fundraiser Coordinator freshman Mike Suggs said. "If they want to have a wacky theme for their team, that's cool. Teams can take the laps around the track as seriously as they want to."
Participants take turns circling the track while their teammates camp out around the field. Though participants enjoy food and entertainment, the event has somber moments as well. In celebration of their personal victories, cancer survivors walk, run or use a wheelchair for the first lap at 6 p.m. The Luminaria Ceremony is held at sunset to honor survivors and memorialize family and friends who have lost their battle with cancer. Luminarias - candles placed in paper bags - light the track throughout the night to remind participants of the lives that have been affected by cancer, and to bring hope that one day we will live in a cancer-free world.Cancer awareness has been an important cause to the fraternity since one of its brothers, Patrick Wagner, passed away as a result of skin cancer, according to senior SAE member Ryan Hoffman.
"Every year we [SAE]have the Pat Wagner Memorial Football Tournament to raise money for the American Cancer Society, and that's how we got involved," Hoffman said.
Suggs encourages the student body to get involved.
"You can start a team or join a team, and if people want to help out there are a lot of volunteer opportunities," Suggs said. "We want to get student organizations involved, and we hope to get a real response on campus because this is a really cool event."
Relay for Life is a nationwide event. This is the first time the event has been held in Santa Clara."For 1998 and 1999, Relay for Life had six sites in Santa Clara County that raised over $350,000, and nationwide we had 2,500 sites that raised $127 million," American Cancer Society Representative Angela Rocco said.
The event will be held at Buscher Middle School's Townsend Field. It begins at 3 p.m. on Friday, May 12th and ends at 3 p.m. on Saturday, May 13th.
SAE will have tables set up in Benson with more information about how to get involved. There are several planning committee opportunities, such as Team Captain Coordinator or the Registration Committee.