The Colleges Against Cancer organization and the American Cancer Society will host the first-ever Georgia Southern University Relay for Life on April 12.

The event will take place in the Erk Russell Park behind the Paulson Stadium from 7 p.m.–12 a.m.

For those participating in Relay for Life, it is a ceremony to honor those who have survived or lost a loved one to cancer and it inspires others to take a stand against a disease that has had an impact on so many people.

“Everybody knows somebody who has cancer, and if they don’t, they will. It’s going to touch you. You cannot go through life without it touching you some kind of way,” LaShai Joshua, accounting masters student and co-chair of Relay for Life of Georgia Southern and Colleges against Cancer, said.

All over the country Relay for Life event coordinators have the opportunity of selecting a theme to base booth and activity ideas on for that nights’ event.

“The theme this year is ‘Cartooning for a Cure,’ so the teams will decorate their campsites in a certain cartoon character,” Robin Peeples, liaison for American Cancer Society at GSU, said.

Each team participating in the event will have a booth in which they can sell items and fundraise throughout the night however they choose.

“I’ve seen things from cookies to fried pickles to turkey legs being sold,” Joshua said. “If people just want to donate to your booth that is welcome as well, but all of the money at the end of the night will go to ACS for cancer prevention.”

The money and research is important when fighting something like this, Hughes said.

“It’s a good time and gives a lot of spirit to keep fighting and keep going because we can’t just let this thing get us. We have to keep going,” Hughes said. 

Students can go onto the American Cancer Society website to form and join teams, Peeples said.

“Even if you wanted to get a group of friends together to make a team the day of the event, it’s not too late,” Joshua said.

Those who raise over $100 receive a free t-shirt, Joshua said.

Students can also purchase luminaries on the website for five dollars in honor or in memory of somebody, and they will be on sale at the rotunda tomorrow from 11 a.m.–2 p.m, Peeples said.