About 2,000 students and community members walked, ran and camped out Friday night at the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life at ASU’s Sun Angel stadium.
The attendees raised more than $115,000 at the fundraiser, which lasted from 8 p.m. Friday to 8 a.m. Saturday, signifying the idea that cancer never sleeps.
“Its just getting people together … to show their determination to find a cure for cancer,” said Alex Arndt, vice president of Colleges Against Cancer (CAC) at ASU, which organizes the annual event at ASU. Relay for Life events happen all over the nation each year.
An accounting sophomore involved with the CAC for the second year and a cancer survivor himself, Arndt said the organization prides itself on being open to all students and members of the community, not only those who are or have been effected by cancer.
The event comes at the end of Greek Week, and a majority of the fraternities and sororities participate, Arndt said.
The Kappa Delta Sorority team turned out the largest amount in donations, raising over $17,000 for the event, according to the American Cancer Society.
Kinesiology senior and Kappa Delta team captain Amanda Gornet raised the highest amount for the team, reaching over $4,000 in donations.
In her third Relay for Life, Gornet said she was happy the event turned out to be a success, as her team raised an additional $600 at the event.
Throughout the night, attendees participated in various events, including a campsite decoration contest for those who didn’t plan on staying up all night.
The event was started in 1985, when Dr. Gordy Klatt, a colorectal surgeon in Tacoma, Wash., walked for 24 hours around a track to raise money for cancer research. Currently more than 3.5 million people take part in the Relay for Life each year.
Friday night’s event kept the tradition alive with relay teams alternating walking the track throughout the night so it was never empty.
“We encourage at least one member of each participating team to have a representative waking around the track to show that there’s not a moment that we stop … for finding a cure for cancer,” Arndt said.
This Friday, a second Relay for Life will take place at the Polytechnic campus, and will take on the same format.
Samantha Bottom, an agribusiness junior who is president of the Colleges Against Cancer ASU chapter at the Polytechnic campus said the event is already the biggest ASU has ever seen in terms of participants, with more than 400 people signed up so far, and has already raised more than $19,000.
Reach the reporter at anatwood@asu.edu
