Relay combines hope, fun for cancer research

By Madeleine Sears

Celebrate. Remember. Fight Back. That is what Relay for Life participants will be doing this weekend.

For the past three years, university students have been major participants in Santa Clara's Relay for Life, which raises money for cancer research.

This year, there will be a massage tent, a silent auction and performances by the student band Paper and university dance teams. The San Jose Sharks' mascot, Sharkie, will also make an appearance.

"Our whole committee's purpose is to get students, faculty and staff involved in Relay," said Alex Blumberg-Long, co-chair of Colleges Against Cancer, which co-hosts the Santa Clara Relay for Life with the city of Santa Clara. "There are a variety of interesting things going on all day long," she said.

The fundraiser is a relay race that has adults, children, survivors and friends running or walking around a track for 24 hours.

This year's Relay will be held at Townsend Field, which is located at 1111 Bellomy St., two blocks from campus.

According to Brittany Benjamin, sophomore campus representative for Relay for Life, the majority of participants in Santa Clara's Relay have historically been university students.

"We have a competition going this year with the community to see who will have more teams," said Benjamin.

"We need to make a competition so we can get the people on board," said Debi Davis, the chair for Santa Clara's Relay. "University kids love a good competition."

Benjamin and Blumberg-Long are both organizing Relay teams. Benjamin is part of team 'Kick the Can,' and Blumberg-Long is on team 'Teamwork.'

Their teams, along with others, will have tents set up in the center of the track to act as a home base for participants and supporters throughout the day.

"Last year we had about 18 to 20 teams, and this year we had a goal of 30, which we will meet," said Benjamin.

The teams are diverse and representative of Residential Learning Communities, sororities and groups of friends.

"It's just a really cool mix of people," Benjamin said.

Each team is responsible for finding sponsors.

Freshman Clare Wylie, co-organizer of Alpha Phi's Relay team said, "We raised money by individually sending letters and selling shirts to girls in our sorority. We also had a fund-raising night at Blondie's and Stuft Pizza."

Although a huge part of Relay for Life is fundraising, Blumberg-Long does not want money to discourage students from participating.

"It's important that we support the survivors who are out there showing us how important it is to respect and celebrate life, something that so many of us take for granted" she said. "Fundraising for me is just a perk."

Last year, Santa Clara's Relay earned $75,000 for cancer research. The goal this year is for the 50 teams and 50 participating cancer survivors to raise $85,000.

To meet this goal, Benjamin and Blumberg-Long know that they need a lot of student support.

Benjamin encourages the entire university to come help make this event a success.

"The majority of the entertainment is Santa Clara, and the event is really geared toward students," she said.

She and Blumberg-Long know that recruiting students is a challenge.

"I think a lot of students are more inclined to want to go out on a Saturday night instead of spending a night camped out on a middle school track," said Benjamin.

"We are just trying to get them to understand that it is a party, it's just a different kind of party. It's a party for a good cause."

It's not necessary to be on a team to participate in the day's events. The organizers want people to come "if for nothing else than entertainment, socializing, networking and free food," said Blumberg-Long.

"Students don't realize how big of an impact this has on survivors for just being there for 5 minutes," she added. Benjamin said, "Even if you have been there for 24 hours and you are exhausted, you feel like you are full of life."

Relay for Life begins this Saturday.

Contact Madeleine Sears at (408) 551-1918 or msears@scu.edu.