About 500 cancer survivors and their friends and loved ones gathered together Friday evening on the Parade Ground to participate in the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life.
The event brought in nearly $10,400, including a little more than $2,000 raised the evening of the relay. All of the money will be used to conduct national research and fund local programs, according to Logan Sacco, staff partner from the American Cancer Society and University alumna.
This year’s relay saw double the number of registered teams compared to last year, Sacco said.
Events began with a survivor lap, in which cancer survivors and participants walked as a group. Tyler Patton helped hold the banner for the walk.
Patton’s mother, Sherry, said she attends the Relay for Life events because of her son. In February 2003, Tyler was diagnosed with Burkitt’s lymphoma, but he has been cancer-free since 2004, she said.
Shannon Rutherford, an ovarian cancer survivor, said this relay marks her 11th or 12th participation, but it’s the first time she has been to one at the University. 
Rutherford said holding these events is important because people give support to those who currently have cancer and because the relays provide money for both treatments and awareness.
“It’s affected pretty much everybody,” Rutherford said. “Everyone knows someone with cancer.”
Rutherford said the relay is encouraging because she sees it as a community coming together, like when her community surrounded her when she was diagnosed with cancer in November 2000. She became cancer free in April 2001.
Attendees at Relay for Life didn’t just walk around the track, but participated in a wide variety of activities throughout the night that followed a theme of “Simply the Best of Cinema.” Activities included movie trivia questions, Coke chugging, a Little Miss(ter) Sunshine all-male pageant, Relay Idol and Hunger Games, among others. To participate in the Hunger Games, contestants donated a dollar to have their name put in the reaping, Maria Bianco said.
Many campus organizations and local businesses attended the relay and sponsored booths to help raise money.
William Dunckelman Jr., publicity co-chair of Relay at LSU, said relays are centered on communities, and because the University functions as one big community, the location is ideal.
“We’re trying to get students involved for a really good cause to show them that together we can defeat cancer,” Dunckelman said.
Dunckelman said he became involved in Relay for Life last year because his mother died from uterine cancer two years ago. He started a team with the College Republicans in memory of his mother and his fiancé’s father, who also died from cancer.
Dunckelman said the American Cancer Society is close to his heart because it provides treatments and homes, called Hope Lodges, where he lived while his mother was undergoing treatment.
“It’s important for everyone to raise awareness and support the ones going through the battle,” Patton said.
Sacco said there are many ways people can get involved. Relay season lasts until the end of May, and the Baton Rouge area features 17 relays in which the public can participate. People can also volunteer their time to help patients by driving them to doctor’s appointments.
 
____
Contact Shannon Roberts at [email protected]