Newmarket High School hosted its 17th annual Relay For Life Event for the Canadian Cancer Society on May 16, 2024. As the Recruitment Coach, I had the opportunity to work with our incredible team of students and dedicated Staff Advisors to promote school-wide fundraising and help put on the final day of celebration and commemoration.
From insightful networking opportunities from my day at Relay University, as detailed in another post, to speaking to the entire school at our Relay Launch Party about the impact of this youth-led initiative and how they can get involved, I was thoroughly involved in the process of promoting this event.
The day of the event also called for a ton of hard work and collaboration. Through several planning meetings, we worked together to get many moving aspects complete in time. We invited survivors to speak at the ceremony, received donations from local businesses for our prizes, set up hair-cutting and leg-waxing forms for students to get done at the event, and encouraged teachers to get involved too, whether that be through a staff acapela or dyeing one teacher’s hair pink! On the day of the event we worked tirelessly to sort out all of the physical donations, get the 300+ participants organized and registered, set-up field games and a variety of booths, MC the various themed laps, and help out wherever help was needed. All of the effort was worth it as we saw the event unfold smoothly and truly serve as a basis to celebrate our fundraising achievements.
Speaking of fundraising, I also lead the school team for students who did not have a team to fundraise with, called the “New Martians.” Together we fundraised over $3,500 dollars through bake sales, bracelet sales, and reaching out to friends and family. Leading a fundraising team really cemented my involvement in this initiative and led me to appreciate the value behind Relay for Life.
The most impactful part of the night was the Luminary Lap, where we lined paper lanterns around the track that students had decorated with the name of a person or cause that they were doing Relay for Life for. It is a time of quiet reflection and remembrance for those we have lost to cancer. And it is the perfect way to end the event as it reminds us that we Relay for each other and to preserve hope.
