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Kick off the fight against cancer

Seton Hall will be hosting a Relay for Life kickoff party in the Living Room at 8:30 p.m on Feb. 16.

Colleges Againsst Cancer has teamed up with the American Cancer Society to raise money and host Seton Hall's very own Relay for Life event.

"It's more than what people think," freshman Elizabeth Parr, who participated in Relay of Life last year, said. "Relay helps the person who is participating in the actual walk as well as the patient because it gives us hope that we will one day find a cure."

At this year's Mardi Gras-themed event, members of the Colleges Against Cancer club at Seton Hall will come together to educate as many people as possible about the disease, particularly early detection. The first kickoff in November raised $100.

The organization hopes to get more people involved by signing up more relay teams and raising money for the cause. All registered teams will meet on April 16 for the actual Relay for Life event that will be held from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m.

Relay for Life is an event that gives people the opportunity to come together and support family members or loved ones who are either fighting cancer, have already beat the disease or have lost their lives to it.

"I relay for my grandma, who lost her battle with cancer in 2005," freshman Alexa Mangini said. "She has inspired me to find a cure for the disease."

Mangini is glad that the event is coming to Seton Hall.

"Seton Hall's branch of ACS is important because it allows college students to get involved in the fight," she said.

At Relay, different teams of people come together across America at parks, local high schools or colleges to show their support by taking turns walking around a track. Each team is asked to have at least one representative on the track at all times (the full 24 hours) to show that, like cancer, they never sleep.

Relay for Life began in Tacoma, Wash. when, in the 1980s, Dr. Gordy Klatt wanted to better his local American Cancer Society office and show support for those who had survived cancer. In the summer of 1985, Dr. Klatt ran around the track at Baker Stadium at the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma for a full 24 hours while nearly 300 people watched. His friends made $25 donations to run or walk with him for 30 minutes and in the end, his first Relay raised $27,000 for the fight against cancer.

Relay For Life is a way to make communities all around the nation aware of cancer and the effects it has on its patients while collecting donations to help support the fight.

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Laura Masino can be reached at laura.masino@student.shu.edu.


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