Students walk in Relay for Life event

Attendance more than doubled for this year’s Relay for Life event on campus compared to last year. Forty-five teams came together at the Wellness Center to fundraise for the American Cancer Society Friday night.

“Everybody knows somebody who has cancer, and so it’s a really widespread interest in a lot of people,” Katie Nelson, a sophomore who overlooked the planning committees, said. “If you just get that spark and get people to start thinking about it, they’ll get [involved].”

Beginning at 6 p.m., many attendees stayed at the event all night. A variety of events kept participants busy throughout the night including Zumba and a root beer pong tournament.

Groups involved continued fundraising at the event, with all funds benefitting the American Cancer Society. Some offered French braids for a dollar or sold cupcakes. Chelsea Scott, a freshman and member of the Siem Hall team, was part of the largest group at the event. Scott and the other members of the team are involved in the Siem Hall Volunteering Unit, a new group on campus.

“We kind of wanted to do something big, and cancer is really important to me and my family, so I thought this would be the perfect way,” Scott said. “We have 36 [members].”

When asked why people get involved in Relay for Life, Scott stated the impact of cancer on a large number of people.

“Cancer has affect their families, so it’s important to them. They want to give back to those survivors and awareness for a cure for cancer,” Scott said. “My dad is a survivor … and my dad is my hero, so obviously I want to give back to him so we can find a cure.”

Attendees recognized local survivors at the beginning of the event by taking part in a survivor lap. Survivors and their caretakers were recognized, and everybody joined in to notice the individuals.

Nelson said a lot of time was put into planning the event, beginning in September.

“I can already see my drive, but when I look at all my committees too, we are an intricate group of driven people, Nelson said. “It’s very nice that we can finally come together on the last night. After 8 months of planning an event, for it all to come together right now, it’s getting pretty exciting to see.”

The event concluded at 6 a.m. Saturday morning with breakfast and a closing ceremony.

Kyla Gradin, NDSU gradate and mentor for the planning committee, has been volunteering for the American Cancer Society for several years. She finds the event important to continue support in finding a cause for the disease.

“I feel like you need to be knowledgeable about the effects of cancer and awareness. The youth is our future of raising more money to keep this organization surviving,” Gradin said. “I think that having them all here fighting against cancer is only going to help us find a cure and find the end to this disease. I think it’s really great we can come together as a Bison nation and really fight against something together.”