Relay For Life raises $75,000 to fight cancer

White bags with candles surrounded a track on the Cathedral lawn Friday night into… White bags with candles surrounded a track on the Cathedral lawn Friday night into Saturday.

One victim. Two victims. More than 100 cancer victims. Each candle represented someone who fought cancer.

The light from the candles provided the backdrop for the annual Relay for Life, which began at 5 p.m. Friday and ran for 15 hours — until 8 a.m. Saturday. The relay, which drew in more than 800 students, raised about $75,000 for the American Cancer Society.

“Everyone has been touched by cancer,” said Allison Quinn, the chair for Pitt’s Relay for Life. “I’ve met so many people who’ve had touching and compelling stories, and it’s been really nice for me to be involved in something that can help people like them and support people in the future.”

The fundraiser began with speeches from Pitt students, including a speech by a junior who overcame leukemia. The speeches were followed by the survivors’ lap. Pitt students lined the sides of the track as cancer survivors walked through to take the first lap of the night. Then, for the next 15 hours, Pitt students walked along the track on the Cathedral lawn.

Despite the pain cancer has caused so many people, the atmosphere on Friday night was anything but depressing. Students said they were having a great time. They held root beer pong tournaments and dance competitions, blared music and ate plenty of food, in addition to walking in the relay.

The track, which was surrounded by tents holding each of the teams, looked more crowded than a Fifth Avenue sidewalk on a Monday afternoon. At least one person from each of the 82 teams had to be walking at all times during the 15-hour event. Allison Quinn, the chair for Pitt’s Relay for Life, said participants do this because cancer patients cannot just walk away their disease which never sleeps.

Quinn, a Pitt senior, said the relay doubled in size from last year, attracting 82 teams this year. Most teams were comprised of campus organizations, such as Greek organizations, community service groups and dormitory floors. Some groups of friends came out for the event and formed their own teams.

Quinn first participated in Relay For Life at Pitt three years ago, when it was new to campus. That first experience with Relay For Life inspired her to become more involved with the organization.

“I remember thinking this had the potential to be a really great event,” she said.

With only five or six people on the committee in its first year, the relay committee has grown to include more than 45 people. Quinn said not many people got involved in the first Relay For Life, because few people knew about it.

That first year, the relay raised $15,000 with about 15 teams, Quinn said. Last year, the total rose to $45,000, and the committee set the goal for this year at $55,000, she said. As of the night before Relay, they had raised $48,000.

According to the relay’s website, 874 participants signed up online this year. The organization raised about $75,000 this year, passing the original goal by $14,000, said Jade Holtzinger, the co-chair for the event.

Much of the money raised this year came from the event Friday night. Various fundraisers took place all over the Cathedral lawn, including a Miss Relay contest — male students dressed in drag and walked around Oakland to try and raise money.

Luminaria bags — white paper bags with a candle on the inside — lined the sides of the track. Participants wrote the names of people who had battled cancer on the outside of each bag. The bags drew in many of the donations for the event.

Quinn said she thinks the event has grown because it tries to find a cure for a disease that has affected the lives of millions of people. Holtzinger spoke about the effects cancer can have on the people close to its victims.

Holtzinger, a junior, lost her mother to pancreatic cancer last school year.

“She was my best friend and my only family,” Holtzinger said. “But I didn’t just want to cry and feel sorry for myself for losing her. I wanted to make something positive out of my bad experience.”

This article has been changed to reflect a clarification about the amount of money students raised for the American Cancer Society.