Relay for Life

Relay for Life is this weekend!!! I formed a team with my friends at the beginning of the year and now that it’s less than a week away, I’m getting really excited. Throughout my life, I’ve always been passionate about social justice and raising money for causes I believe in. I remember when I was like 12, my friends and I decided to host a bake sale and set up camp right outside my friend’s mom’s children’s clothing store, and donate all the proceeds to HRC, the Human Rights Campaign. The Human Rights Campaign is a foundation supporting LGBTQ+ individuals and the fight for marriage equality. My family has always been a huge supporter of this organization and since I’ve come out, I’ve grown to really value it too.

Unfortunately, last year, my aunt passed of liver cancer. I’ve been privy to cancer for most of my life, because people I know and people in my friends’ families have been sick, but it’s never impacted me as directly as it has last year. It was hard on my family for obvious reasons when my aunt got really ill, but when she passed and I saw the impact it had on my mom and grandparents, everything really hit me. Everyone always says they can’t stand to see their mom sad, but I’ve never seen her as beat up about something until that day. Cancer sucks!!! So much. It’s unbelievable how many people die everyday because of this horrible disease despite the millions and millions of dollars that go into cancer research constantly.

When I signed up for Relay for Life, I did so because I knew it was benefitting a good cause, and some of the friends that are on my team that have done it in high school said it’s just such a fun time. I was convinced, but my team and I just kind of collectively put it on the back burner (we didn’t attend the leader meetings and stuff like that). Last week, when I realized that I should really begin fundraising, I posted it on Facebook and my mom and grandmother shared it so I could reach a wider audience. Within less than a week, I managed to raise over $1,000! I’m really excited about this because I know that the American Cancer Society will direct this money well and make sure it’s put to good use. In addition, my boyfriend is coming to visit this weekend and he will be able to participate in the relay with me. When I was home for Spring Break, I drove up to Northwestern on the Saturday before I left just to give him some clothes and shoes of his that I borrowed, and at the time, he was participating in the Northwestern University Dance Marathon (NUDM). NUDM has raised over $20M for extremely worth causes, and I think it’s really cool that I was around for his dance marathon and he’ll be here for my relay. So excited to see him!