The cheers resonating throughout Jenison Field House on Friday afternoon were for the students and community members of all ages who walked the opening lap of the Relay For Life to the tune “I Will Survive.”
Wearing bright yellow shirts that read, “Had it. Fought it. Survived it,” the race participants carried a banner around the length of the track proclaiming “Survivors-we are winning.”
U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Brighton, addressed the crowd before the opening lap, and praised the courage of those attending. The event marked the first time Relay For Life has been held at MSU. Proceeds from the event go toward cancer research projects around the nation.
“When you see that victory lap of some of the folks that are survivors of nine months and are still in chemotherapy, it gets you juiced up that the courage is out there in our neighborhoods and our communities,” Rogers said.
“Every time today someone makes a step, they make a step towards a cure for cancer.”
Rogers, a cancer survivor of 18 years, said he was staunchly supporting an increase in federal funding for cancer research at the National Institutes of Health.
“I’ll continue to help any community doing fund-raising for cancer,” he said. “If we stand together, we’ll beat this - I know we will.”
At 6 p.m., teams crowded into Jenison and set up tents and sleeping bags to prepare for the 24-hour relay.
Food science graduate student Julie DeJongh said she has participated in the relay for the past five years.
“It’s a neat way to get involved at a time of the year when people usually aren’t thinking about stuff like this,” DeJongh said.
Teams played Frisbee and volleyball in the center of the track, and danced to live music from local radio station WDBM (88.9-FM) along with MSU mascot Sparty.
Signs were posted around the track proclaiming statistics of the disease, including facts like, “Ninety percent of skin cancers are preventable,” and, “colon and rectal cancer are the third most common cancers in men and women.”
The goal of the relay was to keep at least one member from every team walking or running at all times for 24 hours.
Jason Ahrens, chairman of the MSU College Republicans, said his team felt it was important to give something back.
“We know lots of people whose families have been affected by cancer,” said Ahrens, a food management junior.
“Hopefully we’ll raise a lot of money for the cause.”
For telecommunication freshman Kristine Buckham, and some other participants, their reasons for participating came back to a personal experience with the disease.
