The hope that resonated from the O’Neil Arena during the Relay for Life on Friday, Feb. 26, inspired many of the survivors and supporters present. Nearly $37,000 was raised to support cancer research.
Forty-one registered student organizations set up sites to raise funds for the fight against cancer; these sites offered activities and games, including wheelchair races, caricatures, improvised skits, lip sync battles, a silent auction and much more.
Also occurring throughout the entire event was the relay, where people were continuously walking around the track.
“The idea is to walk all night because cancer never sleeps,” said Colleges Against Cancer (CAC) co-President Brogan Klouse. “We walk laps all night in honor of those lost and in memory of those lost because everyone has been touched by cancer in some way and it is important that we fight for them.”
And walk all night they did; the event began at 4 p.m. and lasted until 2 a.m.
At 7 p.m., the survivor ceremony began with an introduction by CAC Vice President Courtney Franzel.
“Seeing survivors on the track represents hope,” she said.
This hope was sustained by an uplifting speech from 22-year-old nursing student and two-time cancer survivor Olivia Hawley.
Hawley was diagnosed with stage two Hodgkin’s Lymphoma in 2012 at the age of 18.
“To say it was hell is an understatement,” she said.
And after beating cancer and being in remission for more than a year, Hawley relapsed and was diagnosed with stage four Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. She persevered and beat the cancer that time, too.
After Hawley concluded her speech, the crowd began to applaud her, and a sense of camaraderie and strength became evident. Members of the crowd started to rise, and soon enough everyone was standing, smiling and applauding as Hawley embraced her mother.
“(The most important thing about Relay to me is) everyone coming together for one thing: to end cancer,” she said. “To be with people who are going through the same thing as me means a lot. To see everyone coming together for one reason is so amazing and heartwarming.”
In the last portion of the survivor ceremony, all survivors were asked to come to the track and walk a lap. In many ways, this was a victory lap.
Katy Perry’s “Roar” began to play, and her words rang out over the entire arena: “I got the eye of the tiger, a fighter, dancing through the fire … ‘cause I am a champion and you’re gonna hear me roar.”
“I’d like to thank the SVSU community for continuously supporting Colleges Against Cancer and our fight to make this cancer’s final season,” Klouse said.
