In less than 48 hours, close to 2,000 people will populate the Carrier Dome. They will all be connected by a simple cause: beating cancer.

Relay for Life, a national cancer walk, brings together cancer survivors and supporters from around the country to fundraise and fight for a cure.

The Syracuse University Relay for Life event is organized by several student committees. The 12-hour event, starting at 6 p.m. on Saturday, will be held in the Dome, where participants will walk “survivor laps” to commemorate survivors and show their support.

As of Wednesday, 1,840 participants had signed up. As in past years, organizers hope to see more than 2,000 participants with last-minute sign-ups, which cost $20 at the door. There are 209 teams participating in the event, covering a diverse spectrum of students from Greek organizations to Hillel to the Quidditch team, said Katherine Bresnahan, a senior public relations major and co-chair of the Syracuse Relay for Life committee.

“[Relay] is the only event, as far as I know, that really brings together every single student organization in one place for the same cause,” Bresnahan said.

Each year, the Syracuse Relay aims to raise as much money as possible, but particularly strives to beat the previous year, she said. Last year, the event raised more than $148,000. As of Wednesday at 9:50 p.m., $88,427.57 had been raised for this year.

Bresnahan said the ultimate goal is to surpass the $175,000 raised in 2011, which was the most money fundraised in Syracuse Relay history.

“I’m not sure if we’re going to get to that this year, but we’re ahead of the game with participants and number of teams,” Bresnahan said. “We have the people. We just have to get the fundraising.”

Rosalie Chmiel, a freshman business management major, works on the fundraising committee for Syracuse Relay to raise money and bring together the community through various events.

To further promote Syracuse Relay, this year the committee collaborated with local businesses to set up a bar crawl on Marshall Street as well as working with Yogurtland, Chmiel said.

Most of the fundraising goes to the American Cancer Society, but some of it provides activities for the participants at the event. And this year there are some new additions to the schedule, she said.

To keep with the tradition of Relay for Life, the Luminaria Ceremony will be held to remember those who lost their lives to cancer. At the ceremony, participants will light a candle representing an individual affected by cancer, according to relayforlife.org.

Zumba dance sessions will also be available for the participants during the event. A new event at this year’s relay is a ballroom dancing segment, including a performance and a lesson for the crowd led by the dancers, Bresnahan said.

There will also be a jousting area set up in the Dome. For sports fans, the Syracuse Final Four basketball game will be broadcast on the screens in the dome, Chmiel said.

Volunteers at one of the booths will be cutting hair to donate to Locks of Love, which makes wigs for cancer patients. At another booth, participants can either dye their hair purple or get purple feather extensions to promote awareness of the cause with its official color, Chmiel said.

“There are a lot of students that have been affected [by cancer] either themselves or family-wise,” Chmiel said. “Relay brings awareness and helps raise money for something that’s familiar to everyone.”

To raise money for the American Cancer Society, there will also be raffle tickets for sale at the event for participants to win prizes provided by Relay’s advocacy committee.

Gina Tantillo, a sophomore education major, works on the advocacy committee to collect the donations and prizes for the event.

“We work with getting things from local businesses to put in baskets and raffle off,” Tantillo said. “A lot of people have been willing to help pitch in and raise money to make the event better.”

Tantillo grew up in the Syracuse area and said she thinks this event not only affects students whose lives have been affected by cancer, but also connects to the many people in the area hospitals currently struggling with cancer.

Said Tantillo: “A lot of people are affected by cancer and this is an event to commemorate the survivors and also pay a moment of respect to the people who have lost their lives.”

Published on April 4, 2013 at 12:55 am