Last summer, University senior John Robinson thought he had a stomach flu. His dad, a doctor, suggested appendicitis. After getting checked out, Robinson found that what he actually had was lower abdominal localized carcinoid tumors: cancer-inducing tumors in his appendix and right kidney.
“With my type of cancer, it does not respond well to chemotherapy so I had two surgeries done,” said Robinson. “Long story short, I’m a cancer survivor and proud to say I was blessed with a very great prognosis. So Relay For Life and other organizations that raise money for cancer mean a lot to me.”
An American Cancer Society event that celebrates survivorship and raises money for cancer research and programs, Relay For Life involves teams of people taking turns walking or running around a circle so that at least one team member is moving at all times.
“It’s supposed to symbolize how cancer never sleeps,” said University sophomore Jacklin Sammis, the organizer of the University’s first Relay For Life. Saturday – from noon to midnight, no matter the weather – Relay For Life will take place at the Memorial Quad, located outside the Knight Library.
Sammis, who ran for the position of the Panhellenic Council’s vice president of community service with the intention to bring Relay For Life to the University, said there are currently 22 teams registered for the University’s Relay For Life. She said teams can have anywhere from four to 40 people.
At a glance
| Rain or shine, the University’s first Relay For Life will take place outside the Knight Library from noon to midnight Saturday. It costs $15 to participate. To register, log on to esrfl.org, select “Join a Team” and search “University of Oregon.” For more information, e-mail Jacklin Sammis at [email protected]. |
Relay For Life will also include a performance by the UO Jam Squad, candlelight vigils, information booths and a carnival atmosphere of karaoke, contests and games like tug-of-war and chuck the chicken.
“The idea is to have fun,” said Tinker Flom, community relationship manager for the American Cancer Society’s Great West Division. “Come have fun while you’re fighting cancer.”
There will also be speakers, including Robinson who is the captain of his 22-member team.
“I’m speaking because with my personal story and diagnosis, it means a lot to me that people are educated and informed about the seriousness of cancers,” he said, adding that the statistics are “mind-blowing.”
According to 2007 ACS statistics, nearly 1.5 million Americans have cancer, and it caused 559,650 deaths last year.
Relay For Life originated in Tacoma, Wash., in May 1985 when colorectal surgeon Gordy Klatt continually circled the University of Puget Sound’s track, charging friends to join him. Twenty-four hours and 83 miles later, Klatt raised $27,000, which went to cancer research.
The next year, Klatt expanded the event to include 19 relay teams at the Stadium Bowl. Today, there are Relay For Life events in 18 countries and more than 4,000 locations in all 50 states, as well as Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico. Last year, more than $405 million was raised in total.
So far, the University has raised $2,650, 18 percent of its $15,000 goal.
“The University of Oregon is classified as a mini relay and all the money raised goes toward the Eugene-Springfield one,” Sammis said. “They’re trying to raise $1 million.”
To participate, University students pay $15 to register, though additional fundraising opportunities are available.
“I know it’s probably well overused but I kind of like to take it back to the quote, ‘I may be only one person, but I am one,’” Flom said. “What if we turned it around? If each of us sat there and never did anything, what would happen? Nothing. Even if we collectively take one step, it’s one step closer to the cure.”
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