Merrik Legutki

Staff Writer

For the first time in Florida Southern History, FSC will be hosting a Relay for Life on its campus on Feb. 20.

Relay for Life is a fundraiser that raises money for Cancer survivors by having teams sign up to camp out and take turns walking around a track or path. The event typically runs 24 hours but when Relay for Life comes to FSC the event will run from 6 p.m. to midnight.

With the assistance of Patricia Wright, a Relay for Life Specialist from the American Cancer Society, the Student Government Association and a group of students led by SGA Executive Vice President Alex Charwin and senior Catherine Aquilina worked hard to bring the event to the school’s campus.

“The student volunteers at FSC have been incredible to work with and I have been in awe of their passion and dedication to the fight against cancer,” Wright said. “They have truly embraced the relay spirit and I look forward to celebrating, remembering and fighting back during the inaugural Relay for Life at Florida Southern.”

FSC students gather to plan the details behind bringing Relay for Life to campus.

The group of student volunteers that are assisting Wright to bring the event to campus are in charge of various parts of Relay for Life such as the walk themes, live performances, food, accounting, logistics and event layout.  The themes and performances are planned by the Relay for Life Experience committee, which is run by Chase Hoyt and Rachel Belli.

FSC is going all out to make the inaugural Relay for Life on campus a memorable one. The students are planning on having a couple food trucks and several local performances to keep people entertained when they are not walking.

“We plan to have a lot of student groups perform on the stage during the event,” sophomore Chase Hoyt said. “We hope that by doing this we’ll be helping the student groups gain exposure as well as attract students that may not have come out otherwise.”

Feb. 20 also happens to be Scholar’s Weekend, thereby guaranteeing that there will be a good amount of people on campus for the event. Scholars will be given Relay Bucks to spend at the food trucks as well as different booths at the event.

“My goal was to have our first annual Relay for Life on a Scholar’s Weekend so we could provide a huge event that the scholars could be a part of that would not only showcase our schools dedication to philanthropy, but also how involved all of our student organizations are,” Charwin said.

FSC is raising money for the event by having teams sign up and raising money to benefit Relay for Life. Teams are able to go to local businesses for donations as well as set up their own booths for different activities on Mr. George’s Green where the event is being held. People are also allowed to donate money in exchange for Relay Bucks.

The student committee’s goal was to get 25 teams signed up for the event. There are 17 teams signed up and they have already raised $1,400. There is still time for teams to sign up by going to the find an event section on the Relay for Life website.