In life, there are many things that a person never wants to hear. One of the biggest fears someone can have is hearing the dreadful three words, the three words that turn people’s lives upside down, the three words that can kill: “you have cancer”. Being a caregiver and daughter of a breast cancer survivor, I know what it is like to have my life and family shaken by the disaster that is this horrible disease.  Due to this, and the unfortunate loss of other close friends and family, I wanted to make a difference. It was then that I was introduced to Relay for Life. Relay for Life gave me a chance to make a difference for something I truly wanted to contribute to.

Relay For Life is an event run by The American Cancer Society in communities all around the world. This event is held to spread awareness and raise money solely from donations and fundraisers, in the fight to end cancer. Each year is spent planning, fundraising, and preparing for the big event, which is normally held in either May or June. This year, I got the amazing opportunity to be a part of the Relay For Life of FLOW (Franklin Lakes, Oakland, and Wyckoff) planning committee. My official title was the Online and Social Communications Chair. I was personally responsible for updating and regulating the Relay for Life website and all of Relay’s social media accounts, which included Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Vine, and Snapchat, as well as our school’s Schoology page. I also emailed the local newspapers, organizations, and businesses in order to promote and fundraise for the main event. I really enjoyed my time on the committee board, and it taught me how to carry myself in a more professional manner.
There are a number of ways to fundraise for Relay. For a fundraising goal, the FLOW committee came up with an amazing $115,000, and getting there was not the easiest journey. Because the FLOW district is very large, many fundraisers also are large in order to include all participants and raise the highest amount of money possible. One of the first fundraisers we organized was a volleyball tournament. Though the name might sound cliché, our Volley for a Cure tournament had ten-dollar participation fee, which aided us in raising almost $600. Those two-hours spent playing volleyball with friends made a great difference, and this shows how much fun fundraising can be. Also, a fundraiser performed throughout the year is the selling of luminaria bags. Luminarias are white paper bags that can be decorated and dedicated to a special person. These bags line the track, and have glow sticks in them that get lit up later in the night. For ten dollars a bag, luminarias are a great way to raise money for our event. Along with many team bake sales and car washes, as well as on-site fundraisers, the FLOW district managed to exceed the set goal, raising an astounding amount of over $138,000. Knowing that the large sum of money we raised is going to help people battling cancer, as well as fighting for a cure, really made the stressful planning process worth it.

May rolled around faster than we could plan for, and soon it was May 29th, the day of Relay. Because I was excused from school for the day, as well as the six other committee members, we were down at Ramapo High School’s athletic fields at 8:30 A.M., filling thousands of balloons with helium, or rearranging luminaria bags on bleachers to spell hope and cure.  After working ten hard hours, people started to trickle into the event, setting up tents and on-site fundraisers and hanging out with friends. Multiple ceremonies and speakers later, it was 6:00 am, and people were packing up and heading home for a well-deserved nap. Clean up was a time of slow walks and sleepy conversations. Despite the lack of sleep, the committee was still extremely happy with the Relay we had just perfectly executed.

Relay for Life, in my own opinion, is a way for people who have been affected by cancer to fight back. It is a way to unite and fight back against this disease that has fought its way into every person’s life.  Relay for Life’s slogan is “Celebrate, Remember, Fight Back”, and this is exactly what is done the night of. Relay has affected me in many ways. I got to fight back against the abhorrent disease that is cancer, and I also made so many friends that I never would have met had I not been involved in Relay. Along with new friends, new experiences were brought into my life. Staying up for more than 24 hours with my friends, participating and running fundraisers, and fighting to end cancer means a lot to me. Relay makes me feel like I am fighting back and changing the world for the better. I wish that one day, no person will ever have to hear the abominable words “you have cancer”, and Relay for Life gives me the hope and optimism that my wish may come true.