Relay for Life kicked off Longwood University and the Farmville community’s volunteer weekend on the evening of Friday, March 28 from 5:30 p.m. to 5:30 a.m. Relay for Life is a fundraising event for the American Cancer Society held yearly at Longwood and around the country. This year it was held in the Health and Fitness Center with the survivors taking the first walk around the track upstairs.
Relay for Life had many events besides just walking or running on the track. Many members of the Greek community sold items and provided games for the students as well as families who came.
Sigma Kappa sold juices, fruit drinks and fruit kebabs for three dollars, Alpha Delta Pi hosted a survivor game and Alpha Gamma Delta sold headbands. Zeta Tau Alpha had a game where someone would throw animals through corn holes and if you got all five of them in then you would either win a Lilly Pulitzer item if you were a girl or a Nike accessory if you were a boy. Delta Zeta sold handmade Lilly Coasters while Alpha Sigma Alpha sold hair ties. President W. Taylor Reveley IV also came out and gave a short speech about how proud he was of the Longwood students participating in the Relay for Life event and raising money for the fight against cancer.
Many students came out and walked, others ran and some power walked. Each lap that a team member did, they would receive a bead which made it fun because whichever organization collected the most beads would, not only win a prize, but it would also go toward their philanthropy.
Relay for Life also included musical entertainment. A DJ came out and played music to get everyone pumped up for the relay. Also, there was an open-mic with three student performers, a stroll competition, a Mr. and Miss Relay Pageant, a 3 a.m. rave, dodgeball games, corn hole and a volleyball tournament.
One of the popular events of the night was cutting and donating hair to Locks of Love, an organization who makes wigs for people suffering from cancer. Many women cut their hair for a good cause.
One of the women was Emma Novak, who stated, “I was a bit hes-itant at first because I love my hair, but then I realized that it’s for a great cause and my hair will grow back. My boyfriend was really supportive and said that the magic thing about hair is that it grows out so why not donate it for people who need it the most. He encouraged me to do it so I did it and I’m proud that I went through with it.” “We raised approximately $65,000,” said Relay for Life Co-direc-tor Lindsay Graybill. This is exciting news for Longwood; we came together as a university and a com-munity and had a very successful volunteer weekend.
