After Relay, WU fundraising goal falls short

University teams collect $11,495

On Sunday, April 9, 145 students gathered within their Relay for Life teams in Johnson Commons to fundraise $11,495.01 for different causes to help fight cancer. The day, which was largely organized by faculty advisor for Colleges Against Cancer Kelley Hardie, was attended by faculty, students who didn’t participate on teams and community members.

The event kicked off by team captains introducing their team and t he i r motivation for relaying at 9 a.m., and continued until teams began to take down their booths at approximately 9 p.m. is year’s event featured more survivors than ever, and at 2 p.m. a crowd gathered to hear their testimonies.

“The Survivorship hour was really powerful, it allowed students to really put a face on who we are relaying for,” Hardie said.

The 25 teams were each organized by different clubs and sports teams on campus, and had different fundraisers including food, drinks and games. Some club fundraisers included a water dunk tank and make-your-own s’mores.

Some fundraising events were coordinated for the teams to participate in during the day including a Lip-Synch Battle, Mr. Relay and the Road to Recovery competition. In the Road to Recovery competition, teams created a car from cardboard to race around Johnson Commons. e race benefited the program that the American Cancer Society has that transports patients to their treatment.“ e event was a lot of fun, but it’s important to take a step back and realize that it is really benefiting patients and helping them get transported to their treatment,” Rhodes said.

The day’s theme, “Kick Cancer Off the Board”, was incorporated by assigning each of the teams a board game to take inspiration from during the creation of their fundraisers and booth design. e Waynesburg SAB [Student Activities Board] team was led by captain sophomore Electronic Media and Biblical Studies double major Kyla Wolper, their assigned game, Hedbanz, offered a unique fundraising opportunity.

“One of our committee chairs is a knitter and volunteered  to make headbands that we could raise,” Wolper said.

In the past, fundraising booths could only accept cash, but this year the American Cancer Society released a Relay for Life app where students could now take credit or debit cards in exchange for their fundraising games and food.

“The app really helped make it easier for our teams to accept donations from all sources,” Hardie said.

Though they didn’t yet meet their overall goal of $15,000, according to Hardie, the May 1 deadline still provides people plenty of time to donate online.

“Relay for Life is about honoring survivors and those who have lost their ght to cancer, and also raising money to battle it,” Hardie said.