Last weekend, Capital University took a major step towards defeating cancer and participated in the Relay for Life.
From noon on Saturday April 2nd until 6:00 a.m. on Sunday April 3rd, students walked the track in the Cap Center to help raise money for the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life and took part in various events that were set up around the track.
Numerous inflatable activities such as bounce houses were rented from Supergames and set up on the infield, and tables run by fraternities, sororities, and other organizations offered prizes and food around the outside of the track. There was even an outdoor dunk tank, despite the outside temperature being in the low forties.
Students who participated in Relay for Life made up 31 teams altogether. Some students put teams together with their friends, while others, such as campus organizations, sororities, and fraternities, drafted teams from their ranks.
While some of these students were simply walking for a good cause, others had personal ties to the event.
One of the many students who has a connection to Relay for Life is freshman Spencer Delk. He reported that he was walking for his mother, who had cancerous tumors removed from her brain and her kidney earlier in the year.
“[Relay for Life] was fantastic … I hope one day with this assistance and this money and everyone not giving up … that we one day can find a cure,” said Delk.
Delk reported that he was signed up with the table run by the L.E.A.D. organization, where he sold fruit smoothies when he was not walking.
Although he was officially registered as part of L.E.A.D.s team, he also helped with the table run by his fraternity, Alpha Sigma Phi. He sold hot dogs and participated in the “Shave a Sig” fundraiser, in which students would pay to shave the head of an Alpha Sigma Phi brother. It was obvious by Delk’s newly shaved head that Alpha Sigma Phi had made money.
Other fundraising events similar to this included LSOs jail, where students would be “incarcerated” and money would have to be raised to set them free.
Acsevents.org, the main website for Relay for Life and other events held by the American Cancer Society, reported that Capital University raise $21,245.53 for cancer research, but Delk claims that even more went to the cause, projecting the total closer to $28,000.
“Our goal was 27 [thousand dollars], and we made over that, which was phenomenal,” said Delk, and he added that the Alpha Sigma Phi table alone raised around $550.
Relay for Life turned out to be one of the most-attended charity events of the year at Capital, with 446 students officially registered, and many more contributing to the cause.
