Meet Exec!

Meet the 2017-2018 Relay Exec Chairs!

Relay Chairs:

Caroline Biondo 

Year: Third

Major: Foreign Affairs

Why I Relay: My reasons to Relay (unfortunately) continue to grow. I Relay for Kathy Kleaka, Coach Deb Brown and Sally Kuisel. I want to live in a world where no one has to hear the words, "You have cancer."

Fun Fact: I have 2 fake teeth!

Maggie Low

Year: Fourth

Major: Public Policy and Leadership

Why I Relay: I relay for my Dad, who passed away from colon cancer. I also relay to celebrate, remember, and FIGHT BACK!

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Entertainment Chairs:

Rebecca Richardson

Year: Fourth

Major: Politics

Why I Relay: I Relay so that the words "you have cancer" don't have to be heard ever again. I Relay in honor of Sam Cox and in memory of Brennon Picarella and B.B. Lind.

Fun Fact: I'm allergic to every animal with fur!!!!!

Derek Wu 

Year: Fourth

Major: Chemical Engineer

Why I Relay: I Relay for my father. When he was battling cancer, I saw the toll that battling cancer takes and I Relay so that others can see the hope and support that we provide.

Fun Fact: I have hit a hole in one in real golf!

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First Year Recruitment Chairs:

Bailey Sanders

Year:
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Why I Relay: 
Fun Fact:

Tamir Abbasi

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Why I Relay:
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Fundraising Chairs:

Anna Cooper

Year: Fourth

Major: Marketing and Management

Why I Relay: For Aunt Caroline, my friends & their families, and for Kendall.

Fun Fact: I've been cage diving with great whites!

Logan Buckstaff

Year: Third
Major: Comm

Why I Relay: For my grandpa, my uncle, and for millions of others who have lost loved ones to cancer
Fun Fact: I lived in London before LA

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Finance and Logistics Chairs:

Laura Duke

Year: Fourth

Major: Math and Econ

Why I Relay:  I Relay to fight with and give strength to cancer patients, family members, friends, and caretakers, to honor those who lost their battle, and to support the survivors.
Fun Fact: My twin sister is the Entertainment Chair for Relay for Life at Syracuse!

Jeewoo Kim

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Why I Relay:

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Food Chairs:

Taylor Hogge

Year: Fourth

Major: Kinesiology

Why I Relay: I relay for the loved ones I've lost, all of those that have been affected by cancer, and for a cure!

Fun Fact: My closet is organized by color

Chelsea Umberger

Year: Fourth

Major: Kinesiology

Why I Relay: In honor of my Grandfather

Fun Fact: I have a freckle in my eye

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Greek Recruitment Chairs:

Sam Brinkley

Year: Third

Major: Commerce

Why I Relay: My brother Hughes

Fun Fact: I enjoy fly fishing and hiking

Noah Kiernan

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Major:

Why I Relay:

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Mission and Outreach Chairs:

Katie Carr

Year: Fourth

Major: Global Public Health

Why I Relay: I relay in memory of my mom and so that soon cancer will be a thing of the past!

Fun fact: I love corndogs more than the any person should.

Savannah Draper

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Major:

Why I Relay:

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Publicity and Social Media Chairs:

Hannah Hecht

Year: Fourth

Major: Media Studies major & Art History minor

Why I Relay: I relay for my grandma, aunt, and grandfather who have all beaten cancer due to the progress that organizations like the American Cancer Society have made. I want to honor their strength and hope that we can find a cure to have more stories of people who have won the fight to this disease.

Fun fact: When I was in Africa we got charged by a bull elephant and we had to hop in our truck and run for our lives. They are still my favorite animal though and I have upwards of thirty stuffed animal elephants that I don't plan on getting rid of anytime soon.

Rita Cliffton

Year: Fourth

Major: Global Studies and Public Policy

Why I Relay: In memory of my Gammy Joan and in honor of my Dad winning the fight.

Fun Fact: I'm on the Ski Team at UVA and race competitively

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Sponsorship Chairs:

Emily Smith

Year: Fourth

Major: Commerce

Why I Relay: I relay for my grandfather and for more birthdays!

Fun Fact: I've hiked the grand canyon!

Marisa Lombardi

Year: Third

Major: Commerce

Why I Relay: I relay for my cross country coach Mr. Hornish.

Fun Fact: I was born on New Years Eve.

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Team Recruitment Chairs:

Ciana Deveau

Year: Fourth

Major: Biology and French

Why I Relay: I relay in memory of my dad!

Fun Fact: I've been to 49 states! (Just missing North Dakota)

Casey Baker

Year: Fourth

Major: Biomedical Engineering

Why I Relay: Friends, neighbors, teachers

We Are Not Helpless

What happens when the strongest person you know suddenly gets hurt? What if there’s nothing you can do…no bully to yell at, no Band-Aid to stick on?  What if you suddenly have to become your rock’s rock?

Many people will tell you that I am obsessed with my mom.  Not even just my best friends...I’m pretty sure that anyone who has spent more than three hours with me could tell you that I love my mom more than any living or nonliving thing on this world.  Our relationship has long transcended the mother-daughter border and carefully made its way into best friendship.  This story, however, goes back to a time when she was more my mom in the traditional sense. Mom with a capital M.  Invincible, strong, untouchable. Or so I thought.

It all started on a day which was disguised by the regularity of 7th grade life in suburbia.  I was fully immersed in a world of the cool girl lunch table, middle school crushes with long hair and skater shoes, the advance dance company, my nerdy-but-awesome magnet school, and my beloved summer swim team.  My mom, the strongest and most constant presence in my life, sat me down to tell me that she had been diagnosed with a particularly invasive case of a rare gynecological cancer.  Everything changed.  I was suddenly forced to realize that my mom was not only mom with a capital M, but was a human being who could be threatened by the same forces as anyone else.  My mom, the glue that held my family, my life, and my world together, suddenly needed us to do the same for her.  

The worst part of my mom’s cancer was the fear that came with it.  Only several hundred cases of her type of cancer have been recorded in the world, and we could not find a doctor within driving distance who had treated it before.  My mom’s treatment plan became a two-fold journey of trying to get her better as doctors tried to learn more about the disease along the way.  The only thing they seemed to be sure of was the high likeliness of spreading and recurrence.  It was finally decided that the best way to treat my mom’s case was to surgically remove it...something that sounds not-so-fun and is even less fun than it sounds.  My mom underwent invasive surgery and a difficult recovery process.  My dad, my little sister, and I did what we could to help her feel happy and comfortable as she made her way back to health.  

Though it was a while ago, I still very much remember the strong waves of helplessness that came over me each time we brought my mom to a test, biopsy, or check-up.  I am a person who likes to be in control, and this inability to control the hurt that was affecting my mom, the best human in the world, was completely infuriating.  The world wanted me to go on with life - with the lunch table, with the boys, and the dancing, and the school work, and the swimming - while the person I looked up to most was suffering with something I could not fix.

After a more recent bout with Melanoma, my mom is now officially cancer-free.  And yet, as I have grown-up and more of these untouchable, invincible rocks in my life have been affected by cancer, this feeling of helplessness remains.  What could I do about my neighbor (but more like family member) Mrs. Judy being diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer?  What could I say to my best friend as she laid teary-eyed in my bed explaining that her mom’s doctor had found a lump?

This helplessness is why I Relay.  Because you know what?  We aren’t helpless.  Relay For Life gives us a beautiful and effective way to bond with survivors, patients, and caregivers as we take steps each day toward finding a cure.  It gives us an opportunity to use the resources and networks we have to put money in the right hands and to make a real difference.  We, regular human beings - not doctors or researchers or experts, have the ability to be the catalysts for programs that research rare cancers like my mom’s and find a cure.  We have the ability to help people with cancer all over the world get support through programs such as the Hope Lodge which houses people undergoing treatment far from home, Road to Recovery which drives patients to treatments, Look Good...Feel Better which provides wigs for patients going through chemotherapy, and Reach to Recovery which helps patients seek support from survivors.  

   

What happens when the strongest person you know suddenly gets hurt?  You recognize the problem, and you fight back. In 2015, 1,658,370 new cases will be diagnosed in the US, and 589,430 people will die from cancer.

 

 It keeps happening, and I won’t stand for it. 

 I won’t sit down and let it happen.

 I refuse.

 I will fight back.   

With RelayLOVE,

Katelyn Saks

Mission & Outreach Committee