As a leukemia survivor, Emily Koepsell '09 walked with eight other cancer survivors at Leverone Field House to kick off last Friday's Relay For Life -- a night-long celebration that honors survivors and victims of cancer.
The night was the culmination of weeks of fund raising by Dartmouth students who raised a record-breaking total $85,000 for the American Cancer Society.
Commenting on the tone of the event, Lindsay Longe '06, this year's Relay For Life event chair, said, "Cancer never sleeps, so for one night, neither do we."
For 13 hours, nearly 1000 people in Leverone Field House -- mostly students -- walked or ran laps around the track. There were 65 registered teams of 750 people in total, where each team kept at least one member on the track at any one time. A couple hundred more nonaffiliated students arrived to join the night's festivities. To participate in the event, each person was required to pay $10 on top of whatever funds they raised.
"There were all those people cheering and congratulating me. It made me feel like I have a purpose as a survivor to spread awareness about cancer -- that we need to commit time and energy to research drugs and treat patients," Koepsell said.
Fundraising started at the beginning of the term, and the $85,000 raised is the highest in the three-year history of the event at Dartmouth. The money will go toward cancer research and support programs.
"Our goal was $80,000 and we exceeded that," Longe said. Most of the money was raised by students who requested donations from friends and family through personal letters and e-mails. Longe topped the fund raising charts herself at $1,510. Dartmouth's track and field team raised the most money as a group with $7,200.
To raise money, teams of students held bake sales, Mother's Day card sales, concerts, BBQs and even a date auction.
Campus groups such as Casual Thursday, Gospel Choir, FUSION Dance Ensemble, as well as a capella groups such as the Dartmouth Aires, the Decibelles, the Subtleties and Final Cut, helped entertain the crowd throughout the night.
Leverone Field House was buzzing with other activities all night long, including soccer and capture-the-flag games on the field, movie screenings, video games and a pie-eating contest.
Participants in the Relay felt that it was a meaningful experience.
"I enjoy listening to people's stories and hearing what motivates them to participate," said Maria Quiray, a Tucker staff member. "I'll participate until I can't walk anymore."
The event saw strong participation even in the early hours of the morning.
"Even at 4 a.m., at its lowest intensity, there were still 100 people at every point, it's nice to see so many," Longe said.
Longe had been involved in organizing Relay For Life since its inception, but admitted she was looking forward to a break from the 30 to 40 hours a week she was putting in before the event.
"Relay was incredible," she said. "I am very proud of my Relay leadership committee and the entire Dartmouth community."
Callie Lawson contributed to this report.
