The main event of Relay For Life of UNC-Chapel Hill begins Friday, when Carolina students, faculty, staff and the Chapel Hill community take to Fetzer Field and walk around Belk Track to raise money for the American Cancer Society.
The event begins at 6 p.m. Friday, with a lap around the track honoring cancer survivors, and ends at 2 p.m. on Saturday. Participants are organized into teams and members of the team take turns walking around the track during the event. The rest of the team members can camp out in the Eddie Smith Field House.
Activities are scheduled throughout the event, including a photo booth, a volleyball tournament and a burrito eating contest. The UNC Walk-Ons, Carolina Ukelele Ensemble, CHiPs and the Major Sevens are among the entertainment scheduled for the event. Teams also will host fundraisers around the track, selling food, shirts and more.
A luminary ceremony will take place from 9-10 p.m. Friday and will feature guest speaker Elizabeth Arditti, a hospice counselor in Hickory, N.C., and an ovarian cancer survivor. The luminary ceremony honors those who have died from cancer and celebrates those who have won or are still fighting cancer.
Will Yokeley, a UNC senior and co-director of Relay For Life of UNC, says the event is an unforgettable experience.
“It is one of those times where we are all united as a Tar Heel family, but in extension of that, we are also united as people who are seeking justice in the form of fighting cancer,” Yokeley says. “I will carry the memories of Relay For Life here at UNC with me for the rest of my life.”
Relay For Life of UNC has raised more than $150,000 each year since it began in 1996. Most of the money comes back to UNC Hospitals for cancer research.
For more information or to register, visit Relay For Life-UNC Chapel Hill.
Update: Relay For Life of UNC-Chapel Hill will begin as scheduled, regardless of weather conditions. A rain plan prepared by the organization’s executive committee would move the entire event into the Eddie Smith Field House. Per the rain plan, the luminary ceremony will take place in the field house. All on-site fundraisers will set up around the indoor track and field house campsites will still be available for all teams. A location decision will be made at 11 a.m. on Friday (March 28) and publicized on the Relay For Life of UNC-CH Facebook and Twitter pages (@UNCRelayForLife).
Published March 26, 2014. Updated March 27, 2014.