Cancer doesn’t sleep, so Lipscomb didn’t either.
Participants joined in community to fight cancer at Lipscomb’s third annual Relay for Life event Friday night through Saturday morning in Allen Arena.
By 2:25 Saturday morning, over 400 participants had raised $33,000. The structure for the event symbolized a day in the life of a cancer patient.
“The relay is symbolic of the struggle that people who suffer with cancer have to go through, the journey that they have to go through, through the night, but we believe that there’s hope in the morning,” junior Chloe Rogers said.
Even though participants had plenty of fun, many participated because of personal connections to cancer.
Sophomore Sarah Wood lost a close mentor to lung cancer over the summer.
“I actually came to Lipscomb because I started working with a woman here doing songwriting and stuff like that,” Wood said. “She worked in the Christian music industry, and I would send her my songs and she would critique them. I just got really, really close with her, and she lived here in Nashville. I fell in love with Lipscomb and that’s why I’m here — because of her. She was like a second mom to me.”
Wood performed with her band, The Arcadian Wild, as part of the entertainment Friday night. Wood said that she enjoyed performing for fellow students in a larger venue and supporting a worthy cause.
“I think just what Relay for Life is doing means a lot to me, and it’s such an amazing [thing] to be a part of — raising money to cure cancer,” Wood said. “We’re just honored to be a part of something so powerful and something so wonderful.”
Cancer has also touched the life of junior Heather Ramsey.
“This past Christmas my cousin was getting some blood work done, and they thought that he had Lymphoma, which my uncle had when he was my age,” Ramsey said. “It was just a couple weeks of thinking, this is my cousin who I know and I love, and he’s young and he might have cancer. And it just got really real. Most of the people I know that have had cancer are my parents’ age or older, and so it was a scary moment.”
Ramsey has been involved with Relay for three years, previously serving as director of food and hospitality. This year she served as Phi Sigma’s co-team captain.
Junior Mackenzie Anschultz witnessed cancer at a young age.
“My childhood best friend, when we were 5 and 6 years old, was diagnosed with Leukemia, and she battled it for four years,” Anschultz said. “I watched her go through that at St. Jude [Childlren’s Research Hospital]. That was really hard, but it was also an experience I’ll appreciate forever. She is now completely clean and has been for several years now.”
Anschultz served as co-team captain for Phi Sigma. She said her favorite part of Relay was experiencing the community coming together for the cause.
“It doesn’t matter who you are, it’s all about raising awareness to end cancer and hopefully, one day, there’ll be a cure for it,” she said.
Other participants, survivors and caregivers gathered to remember loved ones lost to cancer and honor those who are still fighting during the Luminaria Ceremony. Luminaria bags lit the walkway as the inside of Allen went dark.
“My favorite part is just when we slow down and talked about people who have had cancer [and] people who have cancer in the Lipscomb community,” junior Markus Matheny said. “Because at the end of the day we can have fun wherever but we’re here for cancer, to beat it.”
When participants were not walking or fundraising, they kept busy with a lip sync competition, free food, swing and line dancing and other activities. The Helmsmen, Sonday Morning, Mic O, Mitch Gallagher and DJ Josh Cottrill kept the crowds awake with entertainment throughout the night.
The night ended with a prayer service at dawn, as hope was spread into the morning.
Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.
Photo gallery by Erin Turner and Sam Webb
Video by Casner and Janice Ng
Additional reporting by Anna McClure