Ramapo’s American Cancer Society (ACS) hosted their biggest event of the year, Relay for Life, on Friday. Like every other year, the event was held in the Bradley Center Main Gym and ran from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m.
This year’s theme for Relay for Life was a pajama party where all students and outside attendees dressed in pajamas. Upon arrival, the lobby of the gym was covered in little moons, stars and blue paper decorations.
Upon arrival, attendees were given a single ticket for raffle prizes and could receive more at the activity hosted at each table. Activities like bra pong, mug shots, making a candy salad and making a card for a cancer patient were offered by an array of clubs, sororities and fraternities.
The night started off with an opening ceremony speech from the ACS e-board. Each e-board member shared what the event was about and the mission behind the event. Vice President of ACS Jasmine Jones said, “Relay for Life is an event where we get to celebrate cancer survivors, remember loved ones lost and fight back against every cancer.”
Following the opening ceremony, president of ACS Malik Moore called up the selected cancer survivors that are connected through the Ramapo community. A group of five survivors came to the stage to receive their medals of honor for their previous or ongoing fight with cancer. Rounds of applause echoed through the room, inviting recognition of their fight.
Much like years past, ACS honored those affected by cancer with a survivor ceremony, dinner and a luminaria ceremony. For the luminaria ceremony, attendees were asked to sit in the center of the gym floor and watch a slideshow that featured those still fighting cancer, survivors and those who have lost their lives to the disease.
After the ceremony, attendees were asked to crack their provided glow sticks and place them in the white bags placed around the gym. A walk of silence was followed by the light stick drop.
In order to keep students and attendees awake for the 12-hour-long event, there were hourly games. These included musical chairs, frozen t-shirt contest, tug of war, relay games and their new specially featured event, Lip Sync Battle.
Head of Entertainment for ACS Sara Hosbach came up with the idea for the Lip Sync Battle and planned all the activities for the night. “Everyone who was there was very engaged and I kept hearing people saying that they were having a lot of fun, which was a good sign to me,” she said.
Food was also offered at the event in several rounds. Every two to three hours, food from restaurants such as Nicky’s Pizza, Jun Lung, Paula’s Soul Food Cafe and others were brought out for attendees in addition to the survivor’s dinner.
The night ended around 5 a.m. when the club announced that they had exceeded the $10,000 goal for the event. The e-board thanked everyone for coming and continuing the fight against cancer.
Moore said the event was a success. “Almost everyone at the event knows someone or of someone who has battled cancer, so being able to create an environment for people to celebrate the lives and battles of people who have battled cancer is super important to us,” he said.
rbleich@ramapo.edu
Featured photo by Rebecca Bleich
