28 C alorner
Spring 2010
Students Take Walk in Park to Combat Cancer By Hillary Carlo
Cal U invited members of the Pittsburgh area to its annual Relay for Life, held April 10 and 11 from 3 p.m. to 9 a.m. at Rotary Park in California Borough. The event included the traditional opening and closing ceremonies, as well as the memorial luminary ceremony. This year’s theme was “Superheroes.” “The superheroes theme is about fighting cancer,” said Lindsay Lytwak, president of the Cal Chapter of Colleges Against Cancer. “The superheroes represent the people who help to eliminate cancer, such as researchers or caregivers. And, of course, the survivors are considered heroes, too,” she said. According to Lytwak, Colleges Against Cancer, which has been in existence at Cal for three years, is a branch of the American Cancer Society and contributes to fundraising for research. The club is the sponsor of the Relay for Life at Cal. “The Relay is one of the biggest ways for the American Cancer Society to fund-
raise,” Lytwak said. Lytwak added that club members were hoping to raise more money this year and top last year’s $26,000. The Relay committee also hoped to get more participation from students and faculty. In hopes of drawing more attention to the event, the timing was adjusted to better suit participants. “We took a survey of teams that participated in last year’s Relay for Life,” Lytwak said. “Half the teams said they wanted it to be 12 hours, and half the teams said they wanted 24 hours. So we just decided on in between and made it 18 hours.” Another change this year was the significant outreach to local “superheroes” to encourage them to participate. “We [were] recruiting survivors this year by reaching out to community members through the American Cancer Society,” said Jennifer Kessel, chair of the Relay for Life and former fundraising chair. She said the group wrote an article for The Towers, the Cal alumni newsletter,
Photo by Jessica Zombek, Courtesy of the Cal Times
Cal U students walk for Relay for Life.
to try to recruit alumni survivors. Group members also contacted survivors from last year by sending Christmas Cards, and save-the-date cards for the April Relay. Kessel said the group’s goal was to raise $30,000. The group earned just under $20,000 from the event, according to the Cal Times.
The Cal Corner Staff Top Row, From Left: Ryan Henson, Mark Stempka, Alyssa Kruse, Ashley Grese. At Right, From Left: Alix Kunkle, Alex Vucelich, Chelsea Funk. From Left: Allison Helman, Charlene Cooper, Megan Miller, Hillary Carlo, Megan Macho.
Missing From Pictures: Stephanie Belback, Kathryn Fitzgerald, Chelsea Leber.
From Left: Michael Billy, Colette Dell, Dan John, Andy Carl, Tom Buckley, Rochelle Gillen, David Evans.
Below: Adviser Margo Wilson; Student Asistant (working hard behind computer) Todd Bosch.