Recruitment for this year’s Relay for Life began Friday afternoon at the Relay for Life kick-off at Houston Hall’s Bodek Lounge.
Relay for Life Co-chairs Wharton senior Michele Lewkowitz and College senior Andrea Cestaro both said they are extremely enthusiastic about this year’s upcoming walk-a-thon, which aims to raise money for cancer research.
According to Cestaro, the goal for this year is to raise $180,000 and to have 2,000 participants.
She explained that last year, Penn’s Relay was the top collegiate fundraiser in the state, and the fifth largest collegiate fundraiser in the nation.
“We really want to see that continue this year,” she said.
She added that Relay for Life has been making an effort to reach out to organizations such as the Women’s Center, Civic House Associates Coalition, the Office of Health Education, Student Health, and Students Taking Action in Public Health.
Cestaro also explained the recruitment has been successful so far. “We’re getting so much support and I’m really excited to see Relay continue to grow on campus. We have more teams registered early, and we’re seeing more teams planning fundraisers before the event,” she said.
Relay for Life committee member and College senior Rachel Darivoff said that certain changes contributed to this year’s success. “We changed the format of the event this year, and it was really successful,” she said.
Free entertainment was provided for the event by the Penn Illusionists, a group of campus magicians. Wharton senior and Penn Illusionist Steve Marcinuk, also known as Steve the Balloon Guy, said, “They are going for the Cirque du Relay theme for this year’s Relay for Life, so we were more than happy to help out at their kickoff party. We look forward to participating at the main event this March.”
Laptops were available at the event for teams register for Relay for Life on the spot. Other tables included a games table, a food table and information table.
Tickets were also given out at the event, some of which were for prizes, while others stated facts about cancer.
“Our efforts were just to get everyone really excited for Relay,” added committee member and Nursing sophomore Bridget Barrett.
Relay for Life will take place at Franklin Field, starting at 8 p.m. on Friday, March 26 and ending at 8 a.m. on Saturday, March 27.
