By Alicia Purcell

For you all who haven’t heard of it, Order of Omega is the Greek honor society, and one of its philanthropies is Buddy's Race Against Cancer. We just welcomed 55 new members, and the chapter at UT now has around 105 members. Everyone in the society has had a strong presence in Greek leadership, scholarship and philanthropic endeavors. We were very excited to participate in a philanthropy event.

This year was the 20th anniversary of the Buddy’s Race. The race started and ended at World’s Fair Park. Volunteers signed in, then we were shuttled around Knoxville to our various route locations. My location was not in the friendliest part of Knoxville, so our group got to hang out with an awesome police officer. We cheered on the participants and kept them on the right track.

We were impressed with just how many people took part in the race! More than 4,800 runners and walkers partook in the course. There were great athletes who finished the 5K in less than 20 minutes, parents who walked or ran with their kids, pets strolling along, and even moms pushing strollers. It felt like the entire Knoxville community was there to help out.

According to its website, “Money from the BUDDY'S Race Against Cancer allows Thompson Cancer Survival Center to deliver much-needed cancer screenings and education to thousands of medically-underserved individuals in East Tennessee through its Cancer Outreach program. Money from the race is collected by individuals and teams through participation and fundraising, and raised through grants, as well as corporate and individual sponsorships. This year's goal was $475,000.