St. Joe’s Relay for Life hosted their namesake relay event April 21 on Hawk Hill campus, raising money and awareness for the American Cancer Society (ACS).
The St. Joe’s Relay for Life student team has been fundraising all year, and their work culminates in the relay itself, held every spring.
“Being part of this student-run organization, it’s great to be able to help in this way, raising money for someone you don’t even know,” said Nick Buonagura ’23, marketing and fundraising co-chair of St. Joe’s Relay for Life. “It goes to a good cause, and it’s really meaningful.”
This year, the club and all the relay’s participants gathered at Cardinal Foley Campus Center for an evening of fun and of contributing to a great cause. The theme of the relay was “Giving Cancer the Boot,” so there were plenty of rodeo-based indoor and outdoor activities for people to enjoy.
The event also included luminaria bags, where a candle is lit inside of a paper bag in honor of those who have been affected by cancer. Written on the bags and showcased in a luminaria video are all the reasons why people relay. Following the video, relay participants took part in a walk of silence around Cardinal Foley in remembrance of those whose lives have been lost to cancer.
Kelsey Dunn ’25, cross-campus coordinator and a member of the luminaria committee for St. Joe’s Relay for Life, has been involved with the organization since she was young. Dunn’s father was diagnosed with cancer, and her mother ran Relay for Life in her hometown.
Dunn said she knew she wanted to be part of the St. Joe’s relay back when she was still applying to colleges, and she doesn’t regret a thing.
“Not only has it let me be involved in something since literally August of my freshman year, but it’s also let me meet other people,” Dunn said. “It’s let me give back the way I was able to give back at home, and it makes me still connected to my dad.”
According to the ACS website, Relay for Life all began when one man, Gordy Klatt, M.D., circled a track for 24 hours in 1985 to raise money for the ACS. A year later, there were multiple teams of participants, and so Relay for Life was born.
The ACS is an organization that conducts cancer research, working to put an end to cancer in all its forms. There is more to their work than just research, though. The organization also participates in advocacy, provides strategies to help prevent cancer, provides support to both survivors and those battling cancer, and more, all in an effort to overcome cancer and address the impact it leaves on so many people and families.
For Buonagura, the relay and all the events hosted by the team throughout the year foster a sense of community among everyone who supports Relay for Life and the ACS.
“There’s a really great sense of community where we’ve all come together to support a common cause no matter what it is, and what’s great about Relay is that it provides a very interactive experience,” Buonagura said. “We have the relay event where everyone comes together, and, yes, makes a donation, but there’s also going to be food and games and raffles and mingling with friends.”
Lindsay Pinto ’23, junior co-chair of St. Joe’s Relay for Life, expressed how meaningful her work in the club has been.
“Not only are you helping other people, but it is self-fulfilling,” Pinto said. “You’re using your time for a really good purpose, and you’re able to make some kind of small impact. It’s very rewarding at the end of the day to put time, energy, money, whatever it is you’re willing to give, into our club.”
Pinto said she hopes people will continue to support Relay for Life and that the club can teach more people about the mission and importance of the ACS.
“Even though Saint Joseph’s is a smaller school and our club isn’t as well known, any of the money that we’re able to fundraise is going right back into the ACS for great purposes and to hopefully help support changing the future of what we know cancer as,” Pinto said.
