Philanthropy through Greek organizations is something that makes up who we are, what we do, and what we stand for. Supporting some sort of cause becomes something that we use to not only brand ourselves, but also to give us the satisfaction of giving back to the community around us. Philanthropy, although very important, is not the only aspect that makes up our Greek experience. Campus-wide efforts to support a cause also fit into the actions of sororities and fraternities.
Relay For Life is an organization that goes to support the American Cancer Society, and works to get all students, no matter who they are, involved in such a cause. College campuses all over the country put on events for this specific organization and all look to the Greek community for a large majority of its support.
For all of the great values our chapters consist of, we need to put those to something bigger than what we know. Our sisterhood or brotherhood, unity and friendship, philanthropy and scholarship, and loyalty and understanding can be put to a cause such as Relay For Life, and make it even greater than it already is. At this point, Greek life can be put aside, and Purdue University as a whole can give back together in unison for something that matters to everyone; the end to cancer.
Relay For Life events differ depending on the university, but though 5,200 communities and 20 countries support the cause, they all have the same goal. At Purdue specifically, Colleges Against Cancer puts on this event, and volunteers participate in an organized, overnight fundraising walk. The teams camp out around a track while members take turns walking constantly for 16 hours. The money raised for this event goes to the American Cancer society, which does research on every type of cancer.
For Theta Chi Matt Johnson, Relay For Life is a very big part of his life. With having the position of Greek Team Development Chair for the organization, he works to promote the information about the event to the Greek community. This cause is not only important to him because he wants to give back, but also because cancer has affected a very influential person in his life. “I relay because it’s something I started going to with my mom since I was five or six years old. Then after my mom was diagnosed with cancer five years go, it has become a much bigger part of my life,” Johnson says. Unfortunately, this is the first year he has to attend the event without his mom. He wants to spread awareness and raise money for this cause in hopes to prevent the hardships that him and his family have had to face.
On Saturday April 5th, 2014 at 6pm, Purdue University’s Relay For Life event will begin and continue into the night. At 9am on April 6th, the event will come to an end. As described before, the team will take turns walking around the track for that period of time. This is meant to represent the evils of cancer and symbolize the challenges in the path to health that every patient faces. By creating the over-the-night event, the gradual darkness of the day as it comes to an end creates the hardships a cancer patient goes through, then by walking through the night and into the morning, the daylight signifies the end of their battle and achievement to better health.
Go support your Purdue community and fight for this amazing cause. Let's use our Greek system of sisterhood and brotherhood, unity and friendship, philanthropy and scholarship, loyalty and understanding, and take our values to something bigger than what we know. Let’s use who we are and what we do, and take it to the broader picture of what our community is really about. Let’s give back, together, as a campus of students who want to bring an end to cancer. For more information email Matt Johnson at: cacteamdev@gmail.com
How to sign up for Relay for Life:
1. Visit relayforlife.org/PurdueUIN and click sign up.
2. Click “start a new team”
3. Fill out the required areas.
4. When it asks if you have a discount code, click yes and type in “relay”
5. After completion, members can join your team by repeating the same steps and clicking “join an existing team”
6. Members search the team name and fill in required information.
