Making Strides

This week I started a new phase in my on going involvement with the American Cancer Society...I am the newest intern at the White Marsh offices working in the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer division!

I was so excited and honored to find out that I was the one person selected for the internship out of a pool of other people interviewed (mostly college students I think).

So what is Making Strides Against Breast Cancer (MSABC)?

MSABC is an annual walk held both in major cities and smaller communities across the United States. It is a day where breast cancer survivors, caregivers and supporters walk in honor and support of those fighting breast cancer and to help raise awareness for finding a cure.   This year's event in Baltimore will be held on Sunday October 24th and is open to everyone. 

More information about the Baltimore event (or links to other events) can be found at stridesbaltimore.org.

Unfortunately I will not be able to attend this year's walk but I am doing everything I can to help make it as great of an event as possible.  I be spending the next month and half working with the MSABC employees to recruit participants and help inform the public about this great event.  If you or a loved one has been effected by breast cancer and you'd like to learn more about the MSABC walks please feel free to leave me a comment and I'll do by my best to help you in anyway possible.

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Until We Find a Cure.

Youth Hall of Hope

Some things might have changed in April 2007 on the campus at Virginia Tech, but they wouldn't stop the 2007 VT Relay For Life event from happening.

On April 20, 2007, the VT Students, faculty, family members, and friends attended the annual Virginia Tech Relay For Life.  They did not allow the events a few short days before deter them from their goals in the fight against cancer.  The event did have a different feel but they fought on.  They were able to raise $285,505 towards finding a cure for cancer, which was an amazing accomplishment.  During the Remember Ceremony, candles were not only lit in memory and honor of cancer patients but also in rememberance of the 32 Hokies who were now watching over them, including one of the Team Captains for that year.

This perseverance helped the 2007 VTRelay become the #4 collegiate Relay in the nation and #1 per capita with $10.19 raised per participant.  This was nothing compared to the honor that was given to Virginia Tech later that year.  At the 2007 National Collegiate Leadership Summit the directors for VTRelay were presented with the American Cancer Society’s Youth Hall of Hope Award.  They became the first recipients of this award for their honor and courage to continue their event despite the events four days before.  The 2007 VTRelay demonstrated beyond words the university's motto of Ut Prosim.   In an article posted online by Relay For Life, told of how “the students at Virginia Tech University truly embodied the spirit of Relay in their actions showing that fear and anger are much smaller than Hope”. 

For the entire article about Virginia Tech's Induction into the Youth Hall of Hope follow this link. 

The following is a video posted by VTRelay on YouTube(tm) about the 2007 Virginia Tech Relay For Life:

Until We Find a Cure

 

Honoring A Great Professor

I was sitting at a Team Captain's meeting when the Surivorship Chairperson gave a presentation about how they wanted to start a campaign to honor VT professors and students who were cancer survivors.  I turned to my friend Annalee and we both had the same idea....honoring our Introductory Psychology Professor.  We immediately began planning how to surprise him with luminaries in his honor.  She went and spoke with the other Intro Psych professor and I began thinking of days to collect money.  She made flyers to hand out on Monday & Tuesday at the start of classes, that said we were putting together a surprise for our professor: we would be collecting money the next class to donate to the VTRelay in honor of our professor in the form of luminaries.

The planning went off without a hitch and we were able to raise enough money for 50 LUMINARIES!! We were stunned that we raised that much money in 2 days and that our professor never knew!

A few days later she and I began making all of the luminaries like the ones below:

For more images of the Luminaries visit my Picasa web album by following this link.

We then planned to meet early before the Tuesday/Thursday lecture and set all of them up before our professor arrived.  With the help of a few friends we were able to set them all up before most of the class even arrived and were able to see the reaction of Dr. Geller's face when he arrived to give his lecture.  The look on his face was worth all of the planning and hoping that he wouldn't find out, he was honored beyond words.  Dr. Geller is not only a fantastic Psychology professor but also a cancer survivor and a Hokie.  We were honored to have him as a professor and knew we wanted to give something back.

If you ever have the chance to give back to a survivor, I highly recommend it because they are why We Relay.

Until We Find a Cure.

2009-2010 VTRelay

Fall 2009 would bring a very different semester for me.  I made the Marching Virginians and figured I wouldn't have time to be on Relay Exec again so instead of applying to head a committee I decide that I would apply to be on a committee and bring 2 years of Relay planning knowledge to a new group of eager Hokies.  I was invited to join the Team Development Committee and to be in charge of College Recruitment.  I quickly learned that this year's participant recruitment would not be like what I had participated in a few years before.  We focused our recruitment techniques to be more personal and centered towards specific organization and we quickly saw a growth in sign ups unlike any we had seen before.

Once again we were planning on thousands of students, community members and friends & families to attend our event so we worked to get the Drillfield again.  This year however we got even more space than the year before and even more privileges with sound and lights.

On a windy April 9th, 630 teams, comprised of over 6,200 participants raised over $578,000 in the fight against cancer.  We had the honor of having Mike-E and the Afro Flow Tour attend and perform at our event, and we hope they return next year!. We are looking to be named the largest collegiate Relay again both in participants and money raised!  As always, we are living by the motto "Ut Prosim, That I May Serve".

People can still support the 2010 VTRelay for life by donating at VTRelay.org through the month of July.

Until We Find a Cure

2008-2009 VTRelay

After the 2008 VTRelay I decided I had to be on Relay Exec again and that I wanted more than anything to plan the 2009 VTRelay Kickoff and make it even bigger.  When Relay Exec applications went out I immediately submitted an application to be the Kickoff Chairperson and was welcomed back with open arms.  As soon as I could, I met with my committee members and began brainstorming big ideas to make the event grow.  We had what we thought were extremely lofty goals but we were quickly told they weren't lofty enough.  The venue had to be changed from a small banquet room to the largest ballroom on campus.  The bookstore told us they wanted to debut that year's VTRelay shirt at our event. We began preparing for 800 people to attend...a number we never expected to surpass but the estimated attendance was closer to 1000 if not more. 

However the biggest change occurred when we were told that a concert was going to be added on to the end of our event.  The 2009 VTRelay Kickoff began our relationship with Mike-E and the Afro Flow Tour.  They agreed to perform and even offered to put their tour bus on the Drillfield and meet with passing by VT Students. 

The 2009 VTRelay Kickoff event was not the only aspect that grew exponentially that year.  One day at a Relay Exec meeting we were told that our goals of $300,000 raised, 3000 participants and 300 teams would be changing...they would be changing to $500,000 raised, 5000 participants and 500 teams.  We thought these numbers were INSANE but we know we could achieve them but it would require a lot of work.  A major concern though was if we did get 5000 people to attend...where would we put them? They wouldn't fit on our tiny Johnson-Miller Track & Field...there was only 1 place on campus that could hold that many people and there still be room. The Drillfield. Our directors worked for months, going to meetings and after meetings and finally we were given the best news we could ask for, we had permission to use the Drillfield.  Planning quickly started to change the logistics of our event, but all the work was worth it.

On April 24th over 5000 people converged at the center of campus for the Largest Co-Ed Sleepover.  By the end of the summer we were amazed that we met not one, not two but ALL three of our goals.  We became the #1 Collegiate Relay For Life event in the world by raising over $512,000 which brought our grand total since the first VTRelay event to over $1million!!  We couldn't be happier to have achieved what we originally thought were the craziest goals we had ever heard.  Once again we were fast paced to continue great growth, but could we meet or even exceed our previous success??

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Until We Find a Cure.

2007-2008 VTRelay

3 years ago I joined the VTRelay community. I had not participated in a Relay For Life in a few years and even then I had only attend 1 for a few hours.  I decided though that I would dive head first into a college RFL event by applying to be on the Team Recruitment committee.  However that didn't last long...I quickly dove deeper into the world of VTRelay.  When an offer was put out for someone to co-plan the first ever VTRelay Kickoff, I voluteered without even having a clue what the event was. 

By February 12, 2008 myself and one other brave VTRelay committee member (from the fundraising committee) had successfully put together a fantastic first annual VTRelay Kickoff.  We had secured (with the help of the Director and assistant Director) guest speakers, coordinated food, volutneers, the Hokie Bird, and advertised the event all across campus.  On a snowy/icy day approximately 400 people attended our event.

April 18th brought the 2008 VT Relay For Life, where thousands of VT students, faculty and community members participated in a 12 hour celebration at Johnson-Miller Track & Field.  We as a school and community successfully raised over $200,000 in the fight against cancer.  We were already considered the #1 collegiate Relay per capita for fundraising, and one of the largest collegiate Relay's in the nation, but we were well on our way to surpassing every collegiate Relay. VT Students don't participate in anything haphazardly, we always give 100% especially when we can represent our school's motto:

Ut Prosim: That I May Serve. 

I had caught the Relay For Life bug and it was only just beginning to grab hold of me.

Until We Find a Cure

Blogging for Hope

I've always wanted to find a reason to start a blog and I think I've finally found that reason.  I have friends who blog about sports, friends who blog about their travels, and friends who blog about their day-to-day life.  None of those interested me enough to blog about (don't get me wrong I love sports, I love visiting new places, and I sometimes have an interesting life), so instead I've decided to blog about what a lot of people call....my biggest passion:

Relay For Life

I have been a part of the VT Relay For Life for the past 3 years, and not just as a participant.  I have planned and recruited participants for the largest collegiate Relay in the nation.  Three years ago I co-planned the first ever VTRelay Kickoff, two years ago I headed the VTRelay Kickoff Committee, and last year I was a member of the super successful Team Development Committee.  None of those wer small jobs, and none of them should be taken lightly.

This blog will be about the success of the VT Relay For Life, why I Relay, and everything else to do with finding a cure for cancer.  I know I'll see a cure for cancer in my lifetime.

Until We Find a Cure.