support at Memory Mall Friday night and Saturday morning at the annual Relay for Life.
The event helped raise money for the American Cancer Society to research the causes
and treatments for cancer patients. People from all over Orlando gathered to help stop this
disease. The event ran from 6 p.m. Friday to 8 a.m. Saturday and included 879 attendees.
Rachael Van Dusen, a senior nursing student said, “Personally my father has had skin
cancer, my grandmother had lung cancer, and I’ve had an aunt with brain cancer. So for me, it’s
family that I’m here for. They drive me to honor them and to really raise awareness to help
others who are going to go through …show more content…
The college of nursing had 25 students at a booth set
up in the theme of "That 70's Show.” The tent was decorated with tie dye and featured their
baskets filled with various goodies to be auctioned off.
The Student Nurses Association was a big participant by holding fundraisers for Relay
for Life throughout the year. Some of the events included: pancake breakfasts, bake sales, and a
barbecue cookout. The cookout this year sold food tickets for five dollars and proceeds totaled
190 dollars, said Savannah Reed, the historian for the SNA.
The event included themed laps around Memory Mall during each hour. The first lap was
the survivor lap, where those who have survived cancer are honored.
The student nurses at the booth said they were all doing the event in honor of their
teacher, Joyce DeGennaro, who is a cancer survivor.
“She is actually my teacher for leadership, and a couple other classes that I’ve had …show more content…
After the
speeches, students took a lap around Memory Mall as the luminaria bags were lit to show
support to those who still have cancer and to remember those they have lost to the disease.
A total of $67,718.25 was raised by the end of the event; of which the Student Nurses
Association raised $2,916.45. All the proceeds will help benefit different programs and research
for the ACS.
One of the programs is the Road to Recovery, which helps cancer patients get rides to
and from chemotherapy. Another program is Look Good Feel Better that helps teach cancer
patients how to restore their self-image and appearance during chemotherapy.
Van Dusen said the fundraising is mostly student run and personally motivated.
Everybody there either has cancer or knows of someone with cancer. The motto repeated by
many of the speakers was: let’s get rid of this disease, so we can see more birthdays.
“Unlike a lot of other charities we don’t always advertise our goal, we want to really
inspire people to pull through and work really hard to do their own fundraising,” said Van
Dusen. “That way it’s not all money driven, it’s really about the