Club Profile: Colleges Against Cancer

By Marianne Florentino

(answers provided by club president, Nicole Creamer)

1. When and how did the idea of the Colleges against Cancer Club first come up?
I first got the idea of starting a Colleges Against Cancer chapter at Gettysburg when I saw a friend start a chapter and a Relay For Life at Loyola College. I saw the success she had and how well the college community received it and decided I wanted to do something like that here. What finally got me to make the call to the American Cancer Society’s local office was that in about a three month span, I had found out about a friend’s father who died from cancer, and learned of four other friends who were diagnosed with cancer. After that I decided that I wanted to do something to try to make a difference.

2. What is the purpose of the Colleges against Cancer Club?

The purpose of the Colleges Against Cancer club is to first make the college community more aware of the effect of cancer on everyone’s lives. We want to let people to know about different methods of prevention and detection. We also want to get the word out about what the government is doing in the fight against cancer and what we can do to promote certain legislation in the government. Finally, the Colleges Against Cancer Organization will hold events throughout the year with the purpose of raising money that will go to cancer research so that more people can be treatedand less people have to die from this devastating disease.

3. What upcoming events are there?

Every year, our main event will be a Relay For Life which will be held in the spring. Members of the college community will form teams and raise money. We will also have an online website where people can get family and friends to donate money. The event itself will go from 7pm – 7am and during that time each team will have at least one member walking around the track at all times. Throughout the night we will have different ceremonies such as a Survivor’s lap to honor survivors and a Luminaria ceremony that is done in honor or in memory of all those with cancer. The night will end with a closing ceremony and a revealing of the total amount of money raised for the American Cancer Society.

We do not yet have dates for other events, since the club is just getting started, but we will probably have some sort of event or dinner for survivors in the community and also an event for cancer education and awareness. All of the details and dates are still to be determined in our next couple of meetings.

4. If you could tell other students something to motivate them to join the Colleges against Cancer Club, what would you tell them?
I would tell other students to think about the number of people they know who have cancer or who have died from cancer. I would guess that every person can think of at least two or three people, many can probably think of several. This is a disease that does not discriminate and affects everyone, so everyone that can should get involved in helping to find a cure. Getting involved does not necessarily mean joining CAC, although that would be great, but it could also mean forming a team and raising money at Relay For Life, which would be just as wonderful. I would hope that everyone would want to get involved to play a part in making cancer less devastating.