Relay For Life celebrates “10 Years of Hope”


On Friday, Feb. 28, at 6 p.m., FIU Relay For Life will team up with the American Cancer Society for the 10th Annual FIU Relay For Life, an overnight walk raising money for cancer research and support services for patients. The event will take place at Ryder Business Loop at FIU’s Modesto A. Maidique Campus and is expected to draw more than 4,000 people.

As one of the university’s largest student fundraisers, Relay For Life offers several opportunities for students, faculty, staff and the community to get involved. Relay teams will be selling food and asking for donations to participate in games and other fundraisers as live music plays. Those attending Relay will have plenty to do as they cheer on more than 90 teams as they attempt to reach their $100,000 goal.

The event begins with a Cancer Survivors Lap celebrating those who have survived cancer or who are currently battling cancer. Later in the evening, the Luminaria Ceremony, made up of hundreds of candlelit bags that illuminate the walking loop, remembers those who have experienced cancer. Relay For Life also includes a hair-cutting ceremony in partnership with Pantene Beautiful Lengths, which allows girls to donate 8-inches of hair or more, and provides funds to turn donated hair into free, real-hair wigs for women battling hair loss as a result of cancer treatment.

“It can happen to any of us. One in two people will have cancer,” said Jennifer Cordero, a senior and director of FIU Relay For Life. Cordero is also cancer survivor who was diagnosed with thymoma, a rare cancer of the thymus gland, when she was 13 years old. She is still undergoing treatment. “As a survivor, I don’t want the person next to me to have cancer. Relay For Life gives me hope and the strength to keep on fighting. Hopefully one day I’m on the other side.”

Since its inception in 2004, FIU Relay For Life has donated approximately $700,000 to the American Cancer Society. Click here to make a donation, buy a Luminaria in honor of someone, or sign up to make a hair donation at Relay!

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