Put yourself in this position: you're 17 years old, tasked with a major marketing campaign to get your whole school involved in a 9-hour event; you have a funding goal, a signup goal, a team of 15-20 students, and two months to pull it off… What do you do?
This scenario was a reality for Abbey Park High School's Relay For Life promotion team during the first week of this past April. "It kind of got away from us, there was so much else going on throughout the year, but we didn't have time for excuses - we had an event to plan…" said Grade 11 student Ella Kao, the Relay For Life marketing captain.
In case you don't know what Relay For Life is, let's lay it out clearly. Relay For Life is an event that's been put on by schools across Canada for more than two decades in an effort to come together as a community and raise awareness and funds for cancer research.
Typically these events can last anywhere from 5 to 12 hours or even a full 24. The time it takes represents the endurance and determination required in the fight against cancer. Participants form teams and take turns walking or running around a track, symbolizing the ongoing battle against cancer that never stops.
"Growing up, I lost someone very close to me to cancer, so this event hits close to home. I know she'd be proud of me," said Kristina Nikitopoulos, Grade 11 Student and event captain.
43% of Canadians will be diagnosed with some form of cancer in their lifetime. That's more than 16.5 million people, or 1 in every 2.3 people every year. Relay For Life serves as a powerful response to these staggering statistics. It shows solidarity among participants, emphasizing that no one fights alone in the battle against cancer.
"Relay to me is more than just walking around the track in circles; it's about raising awareness for people, especially people our age, who are fighting cancer," one participant noted.
This year marks the first time the school will host a Relay For Life event. In just seven days, they raised $4000. Eventually, they partnered with Cineplex, Monastery Bakery, Food Basics, Metro, Pizza Nova, and The Sweetest Thing (who will be contributing to the incentives for participants). Additionally, they got over 100 students to sign up in under one month.
"How," you ask?
"We started meeting as an executive team during the first week of April; by the 19th, we started signups and held a promotional assembly for 1200 students," Kao said. "We worked with the tech class to create a promo video, and by May 13th, we hit 50% of the funding goal and landed over 100 signups".
The initiative from these students is truly remarkable; one month in, they had already made significant progress, but 2.5 weeks later, they had shattered a new ceiling.
On May 19, they broke through the fundraising goal of $10,000, which meant there were going to be some wild antics as promised by their teachers…
By event day, this team had reached 170 signups and surpassed their funding goal - raising over $15,000 for cancer research and support. It's amazing to see, but don't be fooled; this didn't come without extensive time and work from this team.
Despite the challenges and stress of planning and executing the event, the team's perseverance and teamwork shone through.
Relay For Life Captain, Kristina Nikitopoulos, expressed her pride in the team's accomplishments, highlighting the sense of fulfillment that comes from seeing their efforts come to fruition. "Setting up and planning was stressful, but it all came together in the end. We pushed through the challenges, and I'm so glad we did; this event is something to be proud of".
For others involved, the process of setting up and planning the event was also a great experience. It allowed them to witness their ideas materialize into something for everyone to enjoy, further fuelling their passion and commitment to making a difference.
"Setting up was a lot of fun; we got to see all of the little projects we've been working on come to life," noted grade 11 student John Ecclestone.
Steve Jobs once said, "If you are working on something exciting that you really care about, you don't have to be pushed. The vision pulls you".
For this team and this community, Relay For Life is not merely an event; it's something that genuinely matters to them and everyone impacted by cancer, which is why their success is not just measured in numbers, but in the profound impact they have made.