A weekend after rowdy Green Key parties, students have turned their attention to two large community service events this weekend, one of which consumes an entire Friday night. The second-annual Relay for Life, which benefits the American Cancer Society, and the Upper Valley's first-ever summer Special Olympics both kick off this weekend.
Close to 600 students are registered to participate in Relay for Life this year. Event chair Lindsay Longe '06 said she is confident of surpassing last year's fund raising total of $45,000, with a projected goal of $60,000.
The relay will begin with an opening lap by cancer survivors, followed by a luminary ceremony that will honor those who have died from cancer.
This year's ceremony will honor Lindsay Della Serra '06, who passed away from lymphoma last December.
"Last year we dedicated the event to an '04 who had passed away from cancer," Longe said, "We try to [make the honor] more personal and bring it closer to home."
The 60 teams set to take part in the event have been raising money all term. Students will camp out overnight, with the walk lasting until 9 a.m. Saturday morning. A number of student groups are scheduled to perform along with other events and competitions throughout the night.
The leader of the student team "Hop Burrito" said she is looking forward to the entertainment.
"I'm excited about the pie eating contest," Luz Lomeli '07 said. "I'll be burning enough calories walking all night so I figure I'll be good."
The Special Olympics will also occur on Saturday. Winter games have been held for three years, but this is the first year for the summer games. The games will involve track and field and swimming events, and will feature athletes from throughout the Upper Valley.
"This weekend is all about the Special Olympics athletes," event organizer Natalie Babij '05 said. "I hope that they have a wonderful time and feel proud of their accomplishments."
Despite the conflicting date with Relay for Life, Dartmouth student support for the Special Olympics impressed Babij.
"We had a huge response back in the fall when we were looking for students to be on the management team to organize this event. Since then, we've had about 130 students sign up to volunteer on the day of the games," Babij said.
She admitted, however, that having both events on the same weekend was not ideal.
"We almost had to compete for volunteers, which is silly, because they're both such wonderful events, and I know that neither organization wishes to take away from the other," Babij said.
Relay chair Longe agreed, citing the fact that a busy Spring term calendar meant there were few weekends in which they could hold such large volunteer events.
"Our date was on the calendar weeks before theirs and we tried to renegotiate so people could take part in both, but unfortunately that wasn't possible," Longe said. "Spring is incredibly busy so the weekends for something like this are few and far between."
