Every year, Relay For Life puts on an event to help raise awareness of the struggles cancer patients face every day. This year, it will occur May 5th from 6 p.m. to midnight. Senior Kelsey Lyszkowsky is an ambassador who is helping to organize the occasion.

“It’s an event to raise money for the American Cancer Society which goes to help cancer patients,” said senior Kelsey Lyszkowsky, an ambassador helping to organize Relay For Life. “It funds both the research as well as alternate ways to help cancer patients.”

The American Cancer Society doesn’t just use the funds to come up with a cure.

“They also use the money for drivers to take cancer patients to hospitals and help families find and pay for homes near the hospital so they can have easy access,” Kelsey said.

On the actual day, there will be teams, and one person in each team must be walking around the track at all times to symbolize the perseverance it takes to fight cancer. Many school clubs and organization, such as sports teams, have their own team, but there are still ways to join if you don’t already have a team. Teams raise money by going online and donating, or doing fundraising activities such as bake sales.

“Look up Relay for Life, then click, ‘Join a team’ or make a new team,” Kelsey said. “If you make a new team, then you become the team captain.”

The teams also do other things such as raise money for the American Cancer Society and advertise the event. The ambassadors for Relay for Life use this event to raise money for patients as well as honoring victims and survivors of this ongoing disease with a ceremony.

“For the ceremony, we have speakers come who are familiar with cancer,” Kelsey said. “We have these white paper bags that people can decorate and write the name of a survivor or someone who died. They are laid all around the track and are then lit up with glow sticks. The event symbolizes hope for the cure.”