The American Cancer Society celebrated its one hundredth birthday by kicking off the Reston Relay for Life on May 18. There were 744 participants represented by 54 teams that together raised $193,573.45.
Students and Reston community members were entertained throughout the night with various activities including a live band, duct tape fashion show, relay pageant, zumba lessons, and a Bollywood dancing demonstration.
“Relay for Life was an amazing experience where you can bond with people and make new friends while saving lives,” freshman Vanessa Salama said. “It was a lot of fun and it always had a positive atmosphere.”
The opening ceremony began at 1 p.m. and ended at 8 a.m. the next day with the closing ceremony. Youth participants made a big impact on Relay this year because they made up over half of the event.
“Our youth teams this year were amazing,” chairman Janet Jenkins said. “Out of the $193,658 total raised at the event, more than $35,000 were raised by student teams to help in our fight against cancer. We raised $10,000 more than last year by student teams at our event.”
Luminary candles were lit to spell hope on the stadium bleachers. A bagpipe musician led the participants in a lap to honor those who have been affected by cancer. After the lap finished, the word hope was changed to cure.
“The luminary lighting helped bring the focus to the real purpose of Relay for Life,” sophomore Tyler Kirk said. “It made me realize how many people have been affected by cancer. It was definitely the most emotional part of the event.”
To keep the fundraising spirit alive, many teams chose to put an item in the silent auction or held other fundraisers outside of their tent. Lap beads were also available for purchase which helped keep track of the number of laps that were walked.
