The UA’s Relay for Life organizers are counting funds raised at Friday’s event with the hope that they met their goal of $60,000.
The event, which raises money for the American Cancer Society, aimed to raise $10,000 more than last year, according to Corey Lueker, a journalism senior and the event’s chair.
From the beginning of the year leading up to the event, organizers work to raise money for the society, but the Relay for Life event serves as the main fundraising effort. From the beginning of 2012 up until the event, they had raised about $40,000.
Hundreds of people showed up to support the event, which took place on the UA Mall. This year, Lueker said, there were around 1,000 people who signed up, each donating at least $10.
Students seemed to be in high spirits to raise money for the event.
Jessica Olson, a psychology sophomore and part of the Alpha Delta Pi sorority team — which placed second in fundraising, according to the website — said the threat of cancer has touched her personally. She said when she was young, her mom died of cancer, so Relay for Life is a “great way to support a great cause.”
Trey Rowe, a psychology freshman and a member of the Alpha Sigma Phi fraternity team, said he and his fraternity brothers were looking to support the cause as much as they could.
“We just wanted to show that we are fully supporting this by having as many people in our chapter show up and staying the entire time,” he said.
In addition to members of Greek Life supporting the cause, dorms, churches, members of the Freshman Class Council and clubs showed up to help raise money.
“I think it’s great to see how many passionate leaders we have on this campus,” said pre-physiology freshman Vinson Liu, the president of Freshman Class Council and a senator-elect in the Associated Students of the University of Arizona. “Seeing all the support for one event is just incredible. It’s heartwarming and it’s nice to see fellow students put their time aside on a Friday night to come to an event that helps out so many people.”
