FUNDRAISING FRIDAY: HAIRTIES FOR A CURE!

One of the coolest parts of Relay For Life is seeing all the different ways people come up with to fundraise. Some of the coolest fundraising ideas come from team captains and team members who get super creative. 

Lana Hoang, a fourth year Biomedical Engineering major, member of Relay For Life's Fundraising Committee, and captain of Team VSA, founded Hair Ties For A Cure over a year ago as her personal fundraiser. Her success has been incredible! Relay For Life sat down with her to bring you our very first Fundraising Friday post and ask her how she did it!

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Relay For Life: What prompted you to start Hair Ties for a Cure? How did you come up with the idea for Hair Ties?

Lana Hoang: I was searching for a personal fundraiser that would be able to make a big impact, but was easy to do. Inspired by the preppy style at UVA and of course, Pinterest, I thought the hair ties would make a great fundraiser! Also, most boutiques were selling the hair ties for $3+ each, so I felt offering them at a lower price and for a great cause, I couldn't go wrong! (Hair Ties For A Cure sell for $2 each and ALL proceeds go to Relay For Life at UVA and the American Cancer Society).

RFL: How old is Hair Ties for a Cure?

LH: Hair Ties For A Cure started in January 2013

RFL: What is the most important thing you have learned from your personal fundraiser?

LH: The most important thing I have learned from Hair Ties is to not be afraid to ask people for help, or if they would be interested in buying hair ties! Personally I am not in Greek Life, so it has been great interacting with those involved, especially with the ISC and the different sororities, to spread the word about Hair Ties to the Greek community. 

RFL: What has been the biggest obstacle in creating, building, and running Hair Ties for a Cure?

LH: Making the hair ties is the biggest challenge, since the whole project of Hair Ties for a Cure is an individual, self-run fundraiser. Ordering the materials and handmaking each hair tie (measuring, cutting, tying, and burning edges to prevent fraying) takes lots of time, especially with such a variety of colors and patterns available! 

RFL: What was the most exciting thing that has happened since starting Hair Ties for a Cure?

LH: In Fall 2013, we were sold in Darling Boutique on the Downtown Mall, which was a cool experience to have my product actually in a store!

RFL: What is one thing you wish you had known when you started Hair Ties for a Cure?

LH: I wish I had known how time consuming it would be! Once orders are placed, I coordinate times with individuals to meet up to exchange, but often times it can be hard to coordinate times, or to even get a response back after an order has been placed.

RFL: Any advice to people who want to start their own personal Relay fundraiser?

LH: Don't be afraid to share your ideas with others, whether it be your Relay committee members, teammates, or just your friends! I remember brainstorming the potential of Hair Ties For A Cure with friends and it really helped to bounce ideas off of one another and establish a foundation for the fundraiser. Also, don't be afraid to ask for help! Whether it is sending a blurb out on a listserve, or posting in a Facebook group, the Relay community is willing to help your fundraiser and they won't know you'll need help until you ask!

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Hair Ties for a Cure is part of our larger Big Sis Week Fundraiser this spring! Spoil your little AND help finish the fight!

To order, fill out this form. Or like Hair Ties on Facebook!

With RelayLove,

THE FACES OF CANCER

Cancer affects everyone. I know this seems obvious and self-explanatory, but I think we often forget this. My first real memories of cancer date back to my childhood when I lost my grandfather to lung cancer. For a long time, he was the only person I had known with cancer, and as an eight year old girl, I just assumed that cancer is something only old people get. As I grew up, I became increasingly aware of how cancer touches the lives of so many people, both young and old.

Today, February 4, is World Cancer Day, a day where we engage in an open dialogue about cancer by honoring those who have battled and won, remembering those who lost the fight, and by moving forward towards the day when World Cancer Day will be a celebration of finding the cure for this disease. In the spirit of this year’s theme of debunking the cancer myths, I wanted to share some of my favorite “Relay Moments” that remind me daily of Why I Relay.

Dear 16 Year Old Me

I like this video because I think it’s both powerful and informative.  Before watching this I would have never thought that at 20 I would be at risk of malignant melanoma, let alone from that one bad sunburn three summers ago. This video highlights the reality of who cancer touches, the vast age range and the infinite faces of cancer – fighters, survivors, doctors, nurses, loved ones, etc.

Brave

This video is amazing. You can’t help but just have the biggest smile on your face the whole time. The Pediatric Hematology/Oncology unit at this hospital made a video to Sara Bareilles’ Brave and that’s just what these kids are – brave. It is easy to sometimes forget or try to ignore that children suffer from cancer, just like adults. This video demonstrates that while some children do battle cancer, they are still able to live out a somewhat normal childhood with a big smile and an insurmountable strength.

The Battle We Didn’t Choose

Last year, while perusing the internet during yet another boring lecture, I came across this site and started scrolling through the photo gallery instead of the lecture slides. Note to self: it becomes pretty obvious that you aren’t reading psych slides when you start tearing up while looking at your laptop. Anyways, this blog had a poignant message. Angelo documented his wife’s entire battle with breast cancer through stunning black and white photographs. The photos are so moving and powerful and I felt like I was in his place living through the highs and lows of his wife’s entire journey, from the diagnosis to the final snapshot of her battle.

#Kuykenstrong

So I may be biased, but I think I saved the best for last. I know Shawn. In fact, while I always Relay in memory of my grandfather, this year I Relay for Shawn. Shawn was my soccer coach for 9 years and is the older brother I never had. This past summer, Shawn was diagnosed with Stage 4 thymus cancer and The Washington Post followed Shawn, a former soccer player for DC United, around for parts of his journey, interviewing him and his family. The video exposes his true vulnerabilities, especially when he claims, “I just want to live,” but it serves as an incredible example of the positive outlook on life that one can live by while in the midst of adversity. It inspires me to live my daily life with the same love of life, passion, faith and bravery that Shawn exhibits in his fight against cancer.

With Relaylove,

Meghan Dalbec '16

Corporate Sponsorship Chair

PS I know that last one is hard to watch/read. So here’s an additional video that is sure to put a smile on your face if not make you laugh. 

WILL YOU TAKE THE CHALLENGE?

Happy Relay season! 

Relay For Life at UVA is so excited to be back for the spring semester. We have 67 days until our big event on April 11-12th - and those 67 days are PACKED! We have so many exciting fundraisers and events to bring to Grounds and we can't wait to get started. To kick off the semester with a bang, we are challenging our participants and teams in two huge ways. 

The first challenge is our Freshman 15 Challenge! Be the first to recruit 15 new members to your team and win $50 towards your personal fundraising goal. That's $200 for your team's fundraising goal between personal donations and prize money!

Our second challenge is our 100 for $100 pledge! We want 100 people to pledge to raise $100 in the month of February. That's $10,000 all together for Relay For Life at UVA! 

Join us! Take the pledge here.

We can't wait to see what this semester has in store. Be sure to follow our calendar for upcoming events and check out our "GET INVOLVED" tab to find ways to join us in the fight, ideas to start fundraising, and more!

Finally, follow along on our journey here on our blog! We have tons of exciting fundraising ideas, Relay stories, and events to tell you about - so stay tuned!

With Relaylove, 

THANK YOU FOR BEING MY FRIEND

January 5^th is an important day in my family.  We visit the cemetery, attend a mass said in Rebecca’s name, and look through old family photos.  We watch the home videos of Rebecca singing Disney songs, especially the one of her rendition of “Reflection” from Mulan.  Sometimes we watch the slideshow Rebecca’s old second grade class made for her to the song “Thank You For Being a Friend”.

That’s what my little sister was to me – a friend.  Rebecca was a friend to everyone, really.  She never said anything bad about anyone, no matter how sick she got and how much pain she was in.  Her smile was bright and infectious and it rarely left her face.  Rebecca’s laughter possessed special powers to bring hope even in the darkest, saddest circumstances.

Rebecca’s magical laughter came in handy almost daily beginning in May 2004.  After two months of listening to her cry in pain, doctors had finally found the cause of her stomach problems.  At five years old, Rebecca had a very large brain tumor.  She went into surgery a few days later, and we learned that the tumor was a very deadly cancer.  She probably would not live more than two years because treatments for her disease were so limited. 

Rebecca taught me what hope is.  Her treatments made her weak, and she was in pain everyday.  The next fall she was in first grade but she was not able to go very much.  Despite everything she was going through, Rebecca never gave up.  She was the strongest person I’ve ever known, determined to beat her disease no matter how many treatments she had to endure.  Hope, to her, wasn’t merely believing or praying that something would happen, but acting like it would.  She pretended she wasn’t even sick!  She would try to run after our little brother until someone reminded her she wasn’t supposed to.  She would get up and make herself some food when she was supposed to be resting on the couch.  My mom even had this game to make sure the medicines weren’t affecting her ability to spell: she would spell some moderately bad word and say, “what does that spell, Rebecca?”  Rebecca always refused to say the word out loud, but her giggles let us know she knew exactly what it meant.  Whatever it was, Rebecca wanted to do it no matter how sick she got.  She wanted to go to Disney World, so we did.  And she wanted to go to the beach, so we did.  Rebecca knew she had limited time and she was not going to spend it acting like she was sick.

Several times during the year and a half she fought her disease, her doctors told us she had only two months left.  Twice Rebecca proved them wrong, but in November 2005 it was clear that their predictions were right that time.  We went to Disney World, her favorite place, one more time in December.  The holidays were painful; she couldn’t open her presents or play with anything.  Rebecca woke up from naps talking about angels and playing in Hawaii.  On January 5^th, 2006 Rebecca passed away, leaving behind our three brothers and me.  Her suffering had ended, but our baby sister had been taken from us at only seven years old.  Rebecca always cared about others more than herself.  She never complained or acted like a victim.  She simply fought however she could.  My family tried to fight back like she did, supporting the Childhood Brain Tumor Foundation and collecting toys for other cancer patients at Children’s Hospital in D.C.

The first time I was away from my family and my community who had known Rebecca so well was when I got to UVA.  It’s hard to keep someone in your memory surrounded by people who don’t know her, but Relay for Life has made it much easier.  I found Relay last spring and joined the recruitment committee this year.  Working towards fundraising goals makes me feel like I’m fighting back.  Rebecca battled her disease with only experimental drugs available to her, but that shouldn’t be the case.  The American Cancer society provides hundreds of millions of dollars a year in grants for cancer research, and it’s comforting to know that significant portions of that go directly to childhood cancers and brain cancers.

Almost everyone’s life has been affected by cancer.  Sometimes our loved ones’ fights are successful and sometimes they aren’t, but we can all help by fighting with them.  Joining Relay for Life means joining the 4 million people who fight cancer together by fundraising money for cancer research.  It’s a community, and everyone has a reason why they Relay. 

For me, that reason is Rebecca.  She was my best friend and the most selfless person I’ve ever known.  Rebecca believed in hope, and passed that hope on to our family everyday.  Now that I have the power to help others finish their fights, I can’t pass up that opportunity.  Relay for Life is for hope, and I know Rebecca would be for Relay for Life.

With RelayLove,

Sarah Hatef

Recruitment Committee

365 DAYS UNTIL CHRISTMAS

      The day after Christmas the countdown began, every year without fail for as long as I can remember. The thought never crossed my mind that this would be the year I didn’t hear my grandmother exclaim, “Guess what everyone! 365 days until Christmas!”

With every dedicated chime, “6 months until Christmas…2 months…10 days…3…2…1,” Nene recalled the fact that Christmas was around the corner, not forgetting to mention that I better behave to avoid a piece of coal in my stocking come the morning of. She was the ultimate yearlong advent calendar, and her fudge was better than any chocolate hiding behind a little cardboard door. However the gesture was far more than a prolonged drumroll for the big day, it was a continuation of the holiday spirit. She was reminding us that the warmth and love evoked during the season does not come and go as the winter months pass, rather it is all around us, all the time. And sometimes it takes a special person to show that before you realize it for yourself.

            Nene passed away December 21^st of last year after losing the battle to lung cancer. Having decided to withdrawal from treatment, the most courageous of choices, the outcome was inevitable however there was not a time, a place nor a moment when those who cared about her were ready to let her go. Many fall weekends, I ventured home from school just to hold her hand, and with every good bye, the thought of it being the last crossed my mind. The “I Got You Last” tag game we used to play with each other before she headed home after dinner each day during my middle and high school years became too much of a reality. But she made it to the holidays. She loved the holidays.

            Losing someone you love is the hardest thing in the world to deal with. When you witness what cancer does to a person, you want to scream; you do scream, you cry and you hurt, but most of all, you feel so incredibly helpless.  But the thing is, you can’t let anyone know that; you have to be the strongest in the room as you watch someone you care so deeply about fade away. Rationalizing it and thinking, “they are no longer hurting,” temporarily dulls the pain, but truthfully, nothing can change the fact that come Christmas Eve, Nene won’t be sitting in the chair by the fire drinking the one alcoholic beverage she allowed herself each year, ‘Toasted Almond.’ It never tasted any good, but she would always sneak me a sip or two. It was tradition.

            When I think of the holidays, I think tradition. No matter what holiday, every family and every person holds onto traditions, big and small.  I envision dancing to The Pointer Sisters rendition of 'Santa Claus is Coming To Town' with my mom, making ‘Reindeer Stew’ with my little cousins and baking everyone’s favorite Christmas cookies, ‘Meltaways’ and then dueling over the last one. Traditions are part of the magic that IS the ‘holiday spirit’, but they are incredibly fragile and that becomes all the more apparent when someone or something is missing. However, realizing this fragility, welcoming new traditions and remembering the old allow us to cherish memories while creating more special moments to smile upon in years to come.

            This will be a different Christmas for my family and I; my mom, brother and I are headed down to Atlanta, GA to spend Christmas with relatives that we don’t see often enough.  It will be the first time that I won’t crawl out of my bed, wake up everyone too early and cozy up by the fire in my PJs and elf hat. While I reminisce about rushing down the stairs to see what Santa brought us, our perfected present unwrapping system and the silly stocking ceremony, I’m anticipating the new traditions and memories that will arise out of this change.  Beneath the hardship and pain of losing someone you love, there are positives, even something as simple as learning just how strong you really are. Sometimes those positives are hard to find, sometimes someone has to show you, but they are there. In the past, as the holidays came to an end, I all too soon let go of the joy that accompanied the season. However it was Nene who showed me to look for the good that is born out of change and to carry it in your heart wherever you go.

With RelayLove,

Hallie Martin '15

Publicity Co-Chair

BACK AND BETTER THAN EVER

Welcome to the new and improved Relay For Life at UVA blog! We are very excited about what we have in store for this page.

Please feel free to click around a bit! There are a ton of new features, including our "ABOUT RELAY" page, which gives you a little bit more information about Relay For Life here at UVA. We have also added a page dedicated to our chairs!

The "MEET OUR CHAIRS" page outlines our various committees and the people who make what we do possible - our chairs! Each committee chair picture will then take you to a page that outlines their responsibilities - be sure to check that out if you are wondering who to talk to!

Looking for more ways to get involved? Our "GET INVOLVED" tab outlines the basic steps of getting involved at Relay For Life at UVA. Come spring, we will also have the links to our Executive Committee application posted here!

To keep up to date on all things Relay at UVA, be sure to take a peek at "NEWS" and "CALENDAR" which will outline all of our past and upcoming events!

Finally, if you have any questions or need to contact our chairs about anything head over to our "CONTACT US" tab which has a contact form ready to fill out and send along to our chairs or you can email us at relayforlife@virginia.edu! This page also has a bunch of Frequently Asked Questions already answered!

Not only are we very excited for what we have in store for our new blog, but we are extremely excited about all of the great things we have coming up in the spring! Be sure to stay updated on all things Relay by clicking to the left on our Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram and following us!

With Relaylove,

WE CAN'T STOP AND WE WON'T STOP

          

          Relay For Life at UVA is off to a GREAT start this semester, working harder than ever to achieve our goal of raising an accumulative total of $1,000,000 for the American Cancer Society! Last year at this time, we had raised approximately $3,500, however with 76 teams and 308 participants currently registered, we have raised $30,052.20 just since the start of the semester! Relay is doing BIG things this year, and trust me, you want to be part of it. If you have not yet registered make sure do so and get your friends and family in on it as well because we need YOUR help to make UVA history!!!
               

          Thank you to everyone who participated in the Vermonster Challenge! It was an awesome Sunday afternoon filled with lots of icecream and relay fun! We had over 150 people in attendance and raised $750 by devouring 31 tubs of ice-cream, each complete with 22 scoops and every topping you can imagine. Putting it all together, we ate 682 scoops of ice-cream in less than 10 minutes, which is approximately 434,000 calories total; thankfully the 5K is just around the corner!! It is even more shocking that the winning team was done in less than 3 minutes!

         Another big thank you to the 400 people who came out to our second annual Concert For A Cure. The event has grown since last year and has now become an anticipated Relay fall tradition. 
The amazing a capella groups sang their way into the hearts and wallets of the crowd, helping us raise over $2,500! We also want to send a special thank you shout out to the Hullabahoos who announced that they are making Relay a special robe for our annual silent auction which will take place this Spring! 


         With the great success of these past two events we are well on our way to reaching our goal, and we can't express to you how thankful we are for all your help and support! Looking to get involved in some more Relay fun? Don't worry, our next event is coming up at the end of the month, our 5th annual Fight Cancer 5k!!! It will be Saturday, October 26th at 8:30am at Monroe Plaza, so make sure you mark your calendars now because it is something you don't want to miss! Registration is only $10 and includes a free t-shirt, time to tone that bod, and time to spend with passionate people while supporting a great cause! Join us in the fight against cancer today by registering at: https://fightcancer5k.eventbrite.com/ 

Relay Love,

Relay For Life at UVA

WE'RE READY, ARE YOU?

WELCOME BACK!!!

               We hope everyone has had a great first few weeks of school. This new year marks the 12th season of Relay For Life. We are so excited to make this year the best ever! Last year we hit records for Relay For Life at UVA by recruiting 120 teams, 1255 participants, and raising $143,825.41. We couldn't have done it without all of your help, so thank YOU so much!!
               While this last year was seriously great, we think that with the growing size of UVA and increasing presence of Relay, we can make this year EVEN GREATER, but only with your help, of course. Our goals for this year are to have 150 teams, 1500 participants, and raise $150,000! (Yes, we’re very fond of “150”.) If we raise at least $96,273, then Relay For Life at UVA will have raised $1,000,000 for the American Cancer Society!!! That's HUGE! Clearly we have a big year ahead of us, and we could not be more ready to take on the challenge!
              To get the ball rolling, we have tons of events coming up! We are hosting a Vermonster Challenge where a team of five races to eat 22 scoops of delicious Ben & Jerry’s ice cream plus toppings piled to the sky! (Or you can eat just for fun, too!) Thus far we have 31 teams registered and have raised over $700, so come out and watch it this Sunday, September 15th in the McCormick Quad.
              Concert For a Cure is also right around the corner. It is on September 20th at 8pm in McLeod Hall for only $5! Six a’capella groups will be there including the Hullabahoos (*cue screams of every UVA girl*). It will be a wonderful night that you don’t want to miss!
              If you couldn’t tell, we are SO excited for this year’s Relay For Life. You can even start registering and getting your team together here: http://relay.acsevents.org/site/TRpg=entry&fr_id=60216!!

 It is never too early to be involved.

 Relay Love,
Relay For Life at UVA