Relay for Life

Have you ever met someone who is fighting cancer? Do you want to make a difference with the American Cancer Society? The Relay for Life of University of Maryland will return to College Park on April 21, 2012 at J H Kehoe Track & Ludwig Field at 5:00pm. 
 
Since 2009, approximately 446,000 dollars has been raised by the thousands of participants at the last three University of Maryland Relay for Life events. 

 
The idea behind Relay for Life is that “cancer never sleeps” and therefore it is an overnight relay to stand for all the people that have fought cancer, are fighting cancer, or people that have died due to cancer. With Relay for Life being held in 21 countries, it is clear that Relay for Life has earned millions since Dr. Gordy Klatt created the idea in 1985, with the first Relay taking place in Tacoma, Washington in 1986.
 
Laura Koman and MariaSanta Mangione are the Relay for Life chairs for the 2012 Relay for Life UMD. Koman said, “Relay means community. Losing my friend to leukemia while I was at college was very difficult for me because I was away from my family and the community that knew him best.

Relay offered the support I needed to cope with the loss. I realized that everyone has been affected by cancer in some way, and I wanted to ensure that everyone at the University of Maryland had access to the same support system.”

 
The 2012 Relay will begin at 5:00PM at Ludwig Field with the opening ceremony beginning at 6:00PM. Teams will camp out on Ludwig Field and each member will take turns walking around the track, each taking an hour-long turn for the 12 hours.

The walking begins at 6:15PM with the survivor lap; with some important laps throughout the night include the Luminaria Ceremony at 9:00PM, Fight Back at 1:00AM and the closing ceremony at 5:00AM.
 
With a little less than a month to go there are over 1,500 participants on 185 teams. The amount raised so far is 65, 886 dollars with an overall goal of 300,000 for the 2012 Relay for Life.

 
Sophomore chemical engineering major Samantha Fokin is on the Alpha Omega Epsilon 2012 team. She said, “This is my first time doing Relay for Life. I also have friends and family who have cancer, have beaten cancer, and have passed away from cancer so I wanted to do it for them.

My favorite thing about it is that the money that I am raising is for a really good cause, it makes me feel like I am doing something that is really worthwhile, and that I am really making a difference for cancer patients.”
 
Relay for Life is on April 21^st so go out and support the thousands of participants walking to bring cancer awareness! More information can be found at: http://main.acsevents.org/site/TR/RelayForLife/RFLFY12SA?sid=128433&type…