2017 UPEI Relay For Life raises over $14,000 to fight cancer
The student-led 2017 UPEI Relay For Life, held at UPEI’s Chi-Wan Young Sports Centre on January 20, raised over $14,000, all of which will be used to help Prince Edward Islanders who are dealing with cancer.
Fourteen teams—82 participants in total—registered for this year’s relay, including the UPEI Chaplaincy Centre; UPEI Biology Society; UPEI Residences; Jack.org at UPEI; “Too Inspired to be Tired,” an Applied Human Sciences Society and Women’s Field Hockey team; and “IB Walkin’,” a group of Grade 11 International Baccalaureate students from Colonel Gray High School.
Teams raised money in the weeks leading up to the event, and then during the six-hour event, they took turns walking or running around the track, passing their batons to symbolize the ongoing fight against cancer. They celebrated with and honoured cancer survivors during the opening ceremony and the survivor victory lap.
“Together, participants and survivors remembered loved ones, while they walked the track lit by luminaries dedicated in honour or in memory of someone,” said Emma McDermott, a fourth-year biology student who sits on the organizing committee, “all renewing their commitment to fight back against cancer. It was an emotional evening.”
When the team members were not walking, they participated in other activities, including ballroom dancing, minute-to-win it, dodgeball, and games.
Dr. Christian Lacroix, a professor in the Department of Biology, is faculty advisory and liaison for the UPEI Relay For Life.
“The most gratifying thing from my perspective is that the Relay For Life was led and organized by students,” he said. “The success of this event speaks to the civic engagement of our students and is a sense of pride that our institution is recognized for its fundraising success in the community.”
Over 900 Islanders are diagnosed with cancer each year, and over 300 lose their lives. The Relay For Life is a national annual fundraising event for the Canadian Cancer Society, which has been taking place on Prince Edward Island for 16 years.
